Conjugated polymers

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to novel conjugated polymers containing one or more thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based polycyclic repeating units, to methods for their preparation and educts or intermediates used therein, to polymer blends, mixtures and formulations containing them, to the use of the polymers, polymer blends, mixtures and formulations as organic semiconductors in organic electronic (OE) devices, especially in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices and organic photodetectors (OPD), and to OE, OPV and OPD devices comprising these polymers, polymer blends, mixtures or formulations.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to novel conjugated polymers containing one or more thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based polycyclic repeating units, to methods for their preparation and educts or intermediates used therein, to polymer blends, mixtures and formulations containing them, to the use of the polymers, polymer blends, mixtures and formulations as organic semiconductors in organic electronic (OE) devices, especially in organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices and organic photodetectors (OPD), and to OE, OPV and OPD devices comprising these polymers, polymer blends, mixtures or formulations.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, there has been development of organic semiconducting (OSC) materials in order to produce more versatile, lower cost electronic devices. Such materials find application in a wide range of devices or apparatus, including organic field effect transistors (OFETs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic photodetectors (OPDs), organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells, sensors, memory elements and logic circuits to name just a few. The organic semiconducting materials are typically present in the electronic device in the form of a thin layer, for example of between 50 and 300 nm thickness.

One particular area of importance are OFETs. The performance of OFET devices is principally based upon the charge carrier mobility of the semiconducting material and the current on/off ratio, so the ideal semiconductor should have a low conductivity in the off state, combined with high charge carrier mobility (>1×10⁻³ cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹). In addition, it is important that the semiconducting material is stable to oxidation i.e. it has a high ionisation potential, as oxidation leads to reduced device performance. Further requirements for the semiconducting material are good processability, especially for large-scale production of thin layers and desired patterns, and high stability, film uniformity and integrity of the organic semiconductor layer.

In prior art, various materials have been proposed for use as organic semiconductors in OFETs, including small molecules like for example pentacene, and polymers like for example polyhexylthiophene. However, the materials and devices investigated so far do still have several drawbacks, and their properties, especially the processability, charge-carrier mobility, on/off ratio and stability do still leave room for further improvement

Another particular area of importance is organic photovoltaics (OPV). Conjugated polymers have found use in OPVs as they allow devices to be manufactured by solution-processing techniques such as spin casting, dip coating or ink jet printing. Solution processing can be carried out cheaper and on a larger scale compared to the evaporative techniques used to make inorganic thin film devices. Currently, polymer based photovoltaic devices are achieving efficiencies above 8%.

In order to obtain ideal solution-processible OSC molecules two basic features are essential, firstly a rigid 71-conjugated core unit to form the backbone, and secondly a suitable functionality attached to the aromatic core unit in the OSC backbone. The former extends %-% overlaps, defines the primary energy levels of the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO and LUMO), enables both charge injection and transport, and facilitates optical absorption. The latter further fine-tunes the energy levels and enables solubility and hence processability of the materials as well as 71-71 interactions of the molecular backbones in the solid state.

A high degree of molecular planarity reduces the energetic disorder of OSC backbones and accordingly enhances charge carrier mobilities. Linearly fusing aromatic rings is an efficient way of achieving maximum planarity with extended %-% conjugation of OSC molecules. Accordingly, most of the known polymeric OSCs with high charge carrier mobilities are generally composed of fused ring aromatic systems and are semicrystalline in their solid states. On the other hand, such fused aromatic ring systems are often difficult to synthesize, and do also often show poor solubility in organic solvents, which renders their processing as thin films for use in OE devices more difficult. Also, the OSC materials disclosed in prior art still leave room for further improvement regarding their electronic properties.

Thus there is still a need for organic semiconducting (OSC) materials for use in electronic devices like OFETs, which have advantageous properties, in particular good processability, especially a high solubility in organic solvents, good structural organization and film-forming properties, high charge-carrier mobility, high on/off ratio in transistor devices, high oxidative stability and long lifetime in electronic devices. In addition, the OSC materials should be easy to synthesize, especially by methods suitable for mass production. For use in OPV cells, the OSC materials should have a low bandgap, which enable improved light harvesting by the photoactive layer and can lead to higher cell efficiencies, compared to OSC materials of the prior art.

It was an aim of the present invention to provide OSC materials that provide one or more of the above-mentioned advantageous properties. Another aim of the invention was to extend the pool of OSC materials available to the expert. Other aims of the present invention are immediately evident to the expert from the following detailed description.

The inventors of the present invention have found that one or more of the above aims can be achieved by providing conjugated polymers as disclosed and claimed hereinafter. These polymers comprise one or more thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based polycyclic units as represented by the formula I shown hereinafter, optionally together with further aromatic co-units. The thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based polycyclic units are tetrasubstituted at the cyclopentadiene rings.

Surprisingly it was found that these enlarged fused ring systems, and the polymers containing them, still show sufficient solubility in organic solvents by introduction of alkyl or alkylidene substituents. Both the homo- and co-polymers can be prepared through known transition metal catalysed polycondensation reactions. As a result the polymers of the present invention were found to be attractive candidates for solution processable organic semiconductors both for use in transistor applications and photovoltaic applications. By further variation of the substituents on the fused aromatic ring system, the solubility and electronic properties of the monomers and polymers can be further optimised.

Y.-J. Cheng et al., Chem. Commun., 2012, 48, 3203, disclose polymers with thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based polycyclic units (1) as shown below, wherein R is an alkyl group. However, a blend of such a polymer with PCBM was disclosed to have only very low mobilities of 1×10⁻⁴ cm²/Vs.

However, conjugated polymers as disclosed in the present invention and as claimed hereinafter have not been reported in prior art so far.

SUMMARY

The invention relates to conjugated polymers comprising one or more divalent units of formula I

wherein

-   R¹ and R² independently of each other denote aryl or heteroaryl that     is substituted with one or more groups selected from halogen, CN and     straight-chain, branched or cyclic alkyl with 1 to 30 C atoms, in     which one or more CH₂ groups, which are not in α-position to the     aryl or heteroaryl group, are optionally replaced by —O—, —S—,     —C(O)—, —C(S)—, —C(O)—O—, —O—C(O)—, —NR⁰—, —SiR⁰R⁰⁰—, —CF₂—,     —CHR⁰═CR⁰⁰—, —CY¹═CY²— or —C≡C— in such a manner that O and/or S     atoms are not linked directly to one another, and in which one or     more H atoms are optionally replaced by F, Cl, Br, I or CN, -   Y¹ and Y² are independently of each other H, F, Cl or CN, -   R⁰ and R⁰⁰ are independently of each other H or optionally     substituted C₁₋₄₀ carbyl or hydrocarbyl, and preferably denote H or     alkyl with 1 to 12 C-atoms.

The invention further relates to a formulation comprising one or more polymers comprising a unit of formula I and one or more solvents, preferably selected from organic solvents.

The invention further relates to the use of units of formula I as electron donor units in semiconducting polymers.

The invention further relates to conjugated polymers comprising one or more repeating units of formula I and/or one or more groups selected from aryl and heteroaryl groups that are optionally substituted, and wherein at least one repeating unit in the polymer is a unit of formula I.

The invention further relates to monomers containing a unit of formula I and further containing one or more reactive groups which can be reacted to form a conjugated polymer as described above and below.

The invention further relates to semiconducting polymers comprising one or more units of formula I as electron donor units, and preferably further comprising one or more units having electron acceptor properties.

The invention further relates to the use of the polymers according to the present invention as electron donor or p-type semiconductor.

The invention further relates to the use of the polymers according to the present invention as electron donor component in a semiconducting material, formulation, polymer blend, device or component of a device.

The invention further relates to a semiconducting material, formulation, polymer blend, device or component of a device comprising a polymer according to the present invention as electron donor component, and preferably further comprising one or more compounds or polymers having electron acceptor properties.

The invention further relates to a mixture or polymer blend comprising one or more polymers according to the present invention and one or more additional compounds which are preferably selected from compounds having one or more of semiconducting, charge transport, hole or electron transport, hole or electron blocking, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting properties.

The invention further relates to a mixture or polymer blend as described above and below, which comprises one or more polymers of the present invention and one or more n-type organic semiconductor compounds, preferably selected from fullerenes or substituted fullerenes.

The invention further relates to a formulation comprising one or more polymers, formulations, mixtures or polymer blends according to the present invention and optionally one or more solvents, preferably selected from organic solvents.

The invention further relates to the use of a polymer, formulation, mixture or polymer blend of the present invention as charge transport, semiconducting, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting material, or in an optical, electrooptical, electronic, electroluminescent or photoluminescent device, or in a component of such a device or in an assembly comprising such a device or component.

The invention further relates to a charge transport, semiconducting, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting material comprising a polymer, formulation, mixture or polymer blend according to the present invention.

The invention further relates to an optical, electrooptical, electronic, electroluminescent or photoluminescent device, or a component thereof, or an assembly comprising it, which comprises a polymer, formulation, mixture or polymer blend, or comprises a charge transport, semiconducting, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting material, according to the present invention.

The optical, electrooptical, electronic, electroluminescent and photoluminescent devices include, without limitation, organic field effect transistors (OFET), organic thin film transistors (OTFT), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), organic light emitting transistors (OLET), organic photovoltaic devices (OPV), organic photodetectors (OPD), organic solar cells, laser diodes, Schottky diodes, photoconductors and photodetectors.

The components of the above devices include, without limitation, charge injection layers, charge transport layers, interlayers, planarising layers, antistatic films, polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM), conducting substrates and conducting patterns.

The assemblies comprising such devices or components include, without limitation, integrated circuits (IC), radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or security markings or security devices containing them, flat panel displays or backlights thereof, electrophotographic devices, electrophotographic recording devices, organic memory devices, sensor devices, biosensors and biochips.

In addition the compounds, polymers, formulations, mixtures or polymer blends of the present invention can be used as electrode materials in batteries and in components or devices for detecting and discriminating DNA sequences.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The polymers of the present invention are easy to synthesize and exhibit advantageous properties. They show good processability for the device manufacture process, high solubility in organic solvents, and are especially suitable for large scale production using solution processing methods. At the same time, the co-polymers derived from monomers of the present invention and electron donor monomers show low bandgaps, high charge carrier mobilities, high external quantum efficiencies in BHJ solar cells, good morphology when used in p/n-type blends e.g. with fullerenes, high oxidative stability, and a long lifetime in electronic devices, and are promising materials for organic electronic OE devices, especially for OPV devices with high power conversion efficiency.

The units of formula I are especially suitable as (electron) donor unit in both n-type and p-type semiconducting compounds, polymers or copolymers, in particular copolymers containing both donor and acceptor units, and for the preparation of blends of p-type and n-type semiconductors which are suitable for use in BHJ photovoltaic devices.

The repeating units of formula I contain an enlarged system of fused aromatic rings, which creates numerous benefits in developing novel high performance OSC materials. Firstly, a large number of fused aromatic rings along the long axis of the core structure increases the overall planarity and reduces the number of the potential twists of the conjugated molecular backbone. Elongation of the 71-71 structure or monomer increases the extent of conjugation which facilitates charge transport along the polymer backbone. Secondly, the high proportion of sulphur atoms in the molecular backbone through the presence of fused thiophene rings promotes more intermolecular short contacts, which benefits charge hopping between molecules. Thirdly, the large number of fused rings leads to an increased proportion of ladder structure in the OSC polymer main chain. This forms a broader and more intense absorption band resulting in improved solar light harvesting compared with prior art materials. Additionally but not lastly, fusing aromatic rings can more efficiently modify the HOMO and LUMO energy levels and bandgaps of the target monomer structures compared with periphery substitutions.

Besides, the polymers of the present invention show the following advantageous properties:

-   i) The thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based units of formula I are expected     to exhibit a co-planar structure. Adopting a highly co-planar     structure in the solid-state is beneficial for charge transport. -   ii) The introduction of electron rich thiophene units into the     thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based polycyclic will raise the HOMO level of     the polymer when compared with indenofluorene polymers. This is     expected to result in improved charge-injection into the polymer     when applied as an organic semiconductor in transistor devices.     Additionally, the HOMO level for the homopolymer will be inherently     lower than that of P3HT and other polythiophene materials, so that     the polymer has improved oxidative stability. -   iii) The optoelectronic properties of conjugated polymers vary     significantly based upon the intrinsic electron density within each     repeating unit and the degree of conjugation between the repeating     units along the polymer backbone. By fusing additional aromatic     rings along the long axis of the thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based     polycyclic structure, the conjugation within the resultant monomers     and consequently along the polymers can be extended, and the impact     of potential “twists” between repeating units can be minimised. -   iv) Additional fine-tuning and further modification of the     thieno[3,2-b]thiophene based polycyclic or co-polymerisation with     appropriate co-monomer(s) should afford candidate materials for     organic electronic applications.

The synthesis of the unit of formula I, its functional derivatives, compounds, homopolymers, and co-polymers can be achieved based on methods that are known to the skilled person and described in the literature, as will be further illustrated herein.

As used herein, the term “polymer” will be understood to mean a molecule of high relative molecular mass, the structure of which essentially comprises the multiple repetition of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of low relative molecular mass (Pure Appl. Chem., 1996, 2291). The term “oligomer” will be understood to mean a molecule of intermediate relative molecular mass, the structure of which essentially comprises a small plurality of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of lower relative molecular mass (Pure Appl. Chem., 1996, 68, In a preferred meaning as used herein present invention a polymer will be understood to mean a compound having >1, i.e. at least 2 repeat units, preferably ≧5 repeat units, and an oligomer will be understood to mean a compound with >1 and <10, preferably <5, repeat units.

Further, as used herein, the term “polymer” will be understood to mean a molecule that encompasses a backbone (also referred to as “main chain”) of one or more distinct types of repeat units (the smallest constitutional unit of the molecule) and is inclusive of the commonly known terms “oligomer”, “copolymer”, “homopolymer” and the like. Further, it will be understood that the term polymer is inclusive of, in addition to the polymer itself, residues from initiators, catalysts and other elements attendant to the synthesis of such a polymer, where such residues are understood as not being covalently incorporated thereto. Further, such residues and other elements, while normally removed during post polymerization purification processes, are typically mixed or co-mingled with the polymer such that they generally remain with the polymer when it is transferred between vessels or between solvents or dispersion media.

As used herein, in a formula showing a polymer or a repeat unit, like for example a unit of formula I or a polymer of formula III or IV, or their subformulae, an asterisk (*) will be understood to mean a chemical linkage to an adjacent unit or to a terminal group in the polymer backbone. In a ring, like for example a benzene or thiophene ring, an asterisk (*) will be understood to mean a C atom that is fused to an adjacent ring.

As used herein, the terms “repeat unit”, “repeating unit” and “monomeric unit” are used interchangeably and will be understood to mean the constitutional repeating unit (CRU), which is the smallest constitutional unit the repetition of which constitutes a regular macromolecule, a regular oligomer molecule, a regular block or a regular chain (Pure Appl. Chem., 1996, 68, 2291). As further used herein, the term “unit” will be understood to mean a structural unit which can be a repeating unit on its own, or can together with other units form a constitutional repeating unit.

As used herein, a “terminal group” will be understood to mean a group that terminates a polymer backbone. The expression “in terminal position in the backbone” will be understood to mean a divalent unit or repeat unit that is linked at one side to such a terminal group and at the other side to another repeat unit. Such terminal groups include endcap groups, or reactive groups that are attached to a monomer forming the polymer backbone which did not participate in the polymerisation reaction, like for example a group having the meaning of R⁵ or R⁶ as defined below.

As used herein, the term “endcap group” will be understood to mean a group that is attached to, or replacing, a terminal group of the polymer backbone. The endcap group can be introduced into the polymer by an endcapping process. Endcapping can be carried out for example by reacting the terminal groups of the polymer backbone with a monofunctional compound (“endcapper”) like for example an alkyl- or arylhalide, an alkyl- or arylstannane or an alkyl- or arylboronate. The endcapper can be added for example after the polymerisation reaction. Alternatively the endcapper can be added in situ to the reaction mixture before or during the polymerisation reaction. In situ addition of an endcapper can also be used to terminate the polymerisation reaction and thus control the molecular weight of the forming polymer. Typical endcap groups are for example H, phenyl and lower alkyl.

As used herein, the term “small molecule” will be understood to mean a monomeric compound which typically does not contain a reactive group by which it can be reacted to form a polymer, and which is designated to be used in monomeric form. In contrast thereto, the term “monomer” unless stated otherwise will be understood to mean a monomeric compound that carries one or more reactive functional groups by which it can be reacted to form a polymer.

As used herein, the terms “donor” or “donating” and “acceptor” or “accepting” will be understood to mean an electron donor or electron acceptor, respectively. “Electron donor” will be understood to mean a chemical entity that donates electrons to another compound or another group of atoms of a compound. “Electron acceptor” will be understood to mean a chemical entity that accepts electrons transferred to it from another compound or another group of atoms of a compound, (see also U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2009, Glossary of technical terms, http://www.epa.qov/oust/cat/TUMGLOSS.HTM

As used herein, the term “n-type” or “n-type semiconductor” will be understood to mean an extrinsic semiconductor in which the conduction electron density is in excess of the mobile hole density, and the term “p-type” or “p-type semiconductor” will be understood to mean an extrinsic semiconductor in which mobile hole density is in excess of the conduction electron density (see also, J. Thewlis, Concise Dictionary of Physics, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1973).

As used herein, the term “leaving group” will be understood to mean an atom or group (which may be charged or uncharged) that becomes detached from an atom in what is considered to be the residual or main part of the molecule taking part in a specified reaction (see also Pure Appl. Chem., 1994, 66, 1134).

As used herein, the term “conjugated” will be understood to mean a compound (for example a polymer) that contains mainly C atoms with sp²-hybridisation (or optionally also sp-hybridisation), and wherein these C atoms may also be replaced by hetero atoms. In the simplest case this is for example a compound with alternating C—C single and double (or triple) bonds, but is also inclusive of compounds with aromatic units like for example 1,4-phenylene. The term “mainly” in this connection will be understood to mean that a compound with naturally (spontaneously) occurring defects, or with defects included by design, which may lead to interruption of the conjugation, is still regarded as a conjugated compound.

As used herein, unless stated otherwise the molecular weight is given as the number average molecular weight M_(n) or weight average molecular weight M_(W), which is determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) against polystyrene standards in eluent solvents such as tetrahydrofuran, trichloromethane (TCM, chloroform), chlorobenzene or 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene. Unless stated otherwise, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene is used as solvent. The degree of polymerization, also referred to as total number of repeat units, n, will be understood to mean the number average degree of polymerization given as n=M_(n)/M_(U), wherein M_(n) is the number average molecular weight and M_(U) is the molecular weight of the single repeat unit, see J. M. G. Cowie, Polymers: Chemistry & Physics of Modern Materials, Blackie, Glasgow, 1991.

As used herein, the term “carbyl group” will be understood to mean denotes any monovalent or multivalent organic radical moiety which comprises at least one carbon atom either without any non-carbon atoms (like for example —C≡C—), or optionally combined with at least one non-carbon atom such as N, O, S, P, Si, Se, As, Te or Ge (for example carbonyl etc.). The term “hydrocarbyl group” will be understood to mean a carbyl group that does additionally contain one or more H atoms and optionally contains one or more hetero atoms like for example N, O, S, P, Si, Se, As, Te or Ge.

As used herein, the term “hetero atom” will be understood to mean an atom in an organic compound that is not a H- or C-atom, and preferably will be understood to mean N, O, S, P, Si, Se, As, Te or Ge.

A carbyl or hydrocarbyl group comprising a chain of 3 or more C atoms may be straight-chain, branched and/or cyclic, including spiro and/or fused rings.

Preferred carbyl and hydrocarbyl groups include alkyl, alkoxy, alkylcarbonyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyloxy and alkoxycarbonyloxy, each of which is optionally substituted and has 1 to 40, preferably 1 to 25, very preferably 1 to 18 C atoms, furthermore optionally substituted aryl or aryloxy having 6 to 40, preferably 6 to 25 C atoms, furthermore alkylaryloxy, arylcarbonyl, aryloxycarbonyl, arylcarbonyloxy and aryloxycarbonyloxy, each of which is optionally substituted and has 6 to 40, preferably 7 to 40 C atoms, wherein all these groups do optionally contain one or more hetero atoms, preferably selected from N, O, S, P, Si, Se, As, Te and Ge.

The carbyl or hydrocarbyl group may be a saturated or unsaturated acyclic group, or a saturated or unsaturated cyclic group. Unsaturated acyclic or cyclic groups are preferred, especially aryl, alkenyl and alkynyl groups (especially ethynyl). Where the C₁-C₄₀ carbyl or hydrocarbyl group is acyclic, the group may be straight-chain or branched. The C₁-C₄₀ carbyl or hydrocarbyl group includes for example: a C₁-C₄₀ alkyl group, a C₁-C₄₀ group, a C₁-C₄₀ alkoxy or oxaalkyl group, a C₂-C₄₀ alkenyl group, a C₂-C₄₀ alkynyl group, a C₃-C₄₀ allyl group, a C₄-C₄₀ alkyldienyl group, a C₄-C₄₀ polyenyl group, a C₂-C₄₀ ketone group, a C₂-C₄₀ ester group, a C₆-C₁₈ aryl group, a C₆-C₄₀ alkylaryl group, a C₆-C₄₀ arylalkyl group, a C₄-C₄₀ cycloalkyl group, a C₄-C₄₀ cycloalkenyl group, and the like. Preferred among the foregoing groups are a C₁-C₂₀ alkyl group, a C₁-C₂₀ group, a C₂-C₂₀ alkenyl group, a C₂-C₂₀ alkynyl group, a C₃-C₂₀ allyl group, a C₄-C₂₀ alkyldienyl group, a C₂-C₂₀ ketone group, a C₂-C₂₀ ester group, a C₆-C₁₂ aryl group, and a C₄-C₂₀ polyenyl group, respectively. Also included are combinations of groups having carbon atoms and groups having hetero atoms, like e.g. an alkynyl group, preferably ethynyl, that is substituted with a silyl group, preferably a trialkylsilyl group.

The terms “aryl” and “heteroaryl” as used herein preferably mean a mono-, bi- or tricyclic aromatic or heteroaromatic group with 4 to 30 ring C atoms that may also comprise condensed rings and is optionally substituted with one or more groups L, wherein L is selected from halogen, —CN, —NC, —NCO, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(═O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(═O)X⁰, —C(═O)R⁰, —NH₂, —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂, —CF₃, —SF₅, P-Sp-, optionally substituted silyl, or carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to 40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms, and is preferably alkyl, alkoxy, thiaalkyl, alkylcarbonyl, alkoxycarbonyl or alkoxycarbonyloxy with 1 to 20 C atoms that is optionally fluorinated, and R⁰, R⁰⁰, X⁰, P and Sp have the meanings given above and below.

Very preferred substituents L are selected from halogen, most preferably F, or alkyl, alkoxy, oxaalkyl, thioalkyl, fluoroalkyl and fluoroalkoxy with 1 to 12 C atoms or alkenyl, alkynyl with 2 to 12 C atoms.

Especially preferred aryl and heteroaryl groups are phenyl in which, in addition, one or more CH groups may be replaced by N, naphthalene, thiophene, selenophene, thienothiophene, dithienothiophene, fluorene and oxazole, all of which can be unsubstituted, mono- or polysubstituted with L as defined above. Very preferred rings are selected from pyrrole, preferably N-pyrrole, furan, pyridine, preferably 2- or 3-pyridine, pyrimidine, pyridazine, pyrazine, triazole, tetrazole, pyrazole, imidazole, isothiazole, thiazole, thiadiazole, isoxazole, oxazole, oxadiazole, thiophene, preferably 2-thiophene, selenophene, preferably 2-selenophene, thieno[3,2-b]thiophene, thieno[2,3-b]thiophene, furo[3,2-b]furan, furo[2,3-b]furan, seleno[3,2-b]selenophene, seleno[2,3-b]selenophene, thieno[3,2-b]selenophene, thieno[3,2-b]furan, indole, isoindole, benzo[b]furan, benzo[b]thiophene, benzo[1,2-b;4,5-b′]dithiophene, benzo[2,1-b;3,4-b′]dithiophene, quinole, 2-methylquinole, isoquinole, quinoxaline, quinazoline, benzotriazole, benzimidazole, benzothiazole, benzisothiazole, benzisoxazole, benzoxadiazole, benzoxazole, benzothiadiazole, all of which can be unsubstituted, mono- or polysubstituted with L as defined above. Further examples of aryl and heteroaryl groups are those selected from the groups shown hereinafter.

An alkyl or alkoxy radical, i.e. where the terminal CH₂ group is replaced by —O—, can be straight-chain or branched. It is preferably straight-chain, has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 carbon atoms and accordingly is preferably ethyl, propyl, butyl, pentyl, hexyl, heptyl, octyl, ethoxy, propoxy, butoxy, pentoxy, hexoxy, heptoxy, or octoxy, furthermore methyl, nonyl, decyl, undecyl, dodecyl, tridecyl, tetradecyl, pentadecyl, nonoxy, decoxy, undecoxy, dodecoxy, tridecoxy or tetradecoxy, for example.

An alkenyl group, wherein one or more CH₂ groups are replaced by —CH═CH— can be straight-chain or branched. It is preferably straight-chain, has 2 to 10 C atoms and accordingly is preferably vinyl, prop-1-, or prop-2-enyl, but-1-, 2- or but-3-enyl, pent-1-, 2-, 3- or pent-4-enyl, hex-1-, 2-, 3-, 4- or hex-5-enyl, hept-1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- or hept-6-enyl, oct-1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- or oct-7-enyl, non-1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7- or non-8-enyl, dec-1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8- or dec-9-enyl.

Especially preferred alkenyl groups are C₂-C₇-1E-alkenyl, C₄-C₇-3E-alkenyl, C₅-C₇-4-alkenyl, C₆-C₇-5-alkenyl and C₇-6-alkenyl, in particular C₂-C₇-1E-alkenyl, C₄-C₇-3E-alkenyl and C₅-C₇-4-alkenyl. Examples for particularly preferred alkenyl groups are vinyl, 1E-propenyl, 1E-butenyl, 1E-pentenyl, 1E-hexenyl, 1E-heptenyl, 3-butenyl, 3E-pentenyl, 3E-hexenyl, 3E-heptenyl, 4-pentenyl, 4Z-hexenyl, 4E-hexenyl, 4Z-heptenyl, 5-hexenyl, 6-heptenyl and the like. Groups having up to 5 C atoms are generally preferred.

An oxaalkyl group, i.e. where one CH₂ group is replaced by —O—, is preferably straight-chain 2-oxapropyl (=methoxymethyl), 2-(=ethoxymethyl) or 3-oxabutyl (=2-methoxyethyl), 2-, 3-, or 4-oxapentyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-oxahexyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, or 6-oxaheptyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- or 7-oxaoctyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7- or 8-oxanonyl or 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8- or 9-oxadecyl, for example. Oxaalkyl, i.e. where one CH₂ group is replaced by —O—, is preferably straight-chain 2-oxapropyl (=methoxymethyl), 2-(=ethoxymethyl) or 3-oxabutyl (=2-methoxyethyl), 2-, 3-, or 4-oxapentyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-oxahexyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, or 6-oxaheptyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6- or 7-oxaoctyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7- or 8-oxanonyl or 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8- or 9-oxadecyl, for example.

In an alkyl group wherein one CH₂ group is replaced by —O— and one by —C(O)—, these radicals are preferably neighboured. Accordingly these radicals together form a carbonyloxy group —C(O)—O— or an oxycarbonyl group —O—C(O)—. Preferably this group is straight-chain and has 2 to 6 C atoms. It is accordingly preferably acetyloxy, propionyloxy, butyryloxy, pentanoyloxy, hexanoyloxy, acetyloxymethyl, propionyloxymethyl, butyryloxymethyl, pentanoyloxymethyl, 2-acetyloxyethyl, 2-propionyloxy-ethyl, 2-butyryloxyethyl, 3-acetyloxypropyl, 3-propionyloxypropyl, 4-acetyloxybutyl, methoxycarbonyl, ethoxycarbonyl, propoxycarbonyl, butoxycarbonyl, pentoxycarbonyl, methoxycarbonyl methyl, ethoxy-carbonylmethyl, propoxycarbonylmethyl, butoxycarbonylmethyl, 2-(methoxycarbonyl)ethyl, 2-(ethoxycarbonyl)ethyl, 2-(propoxy-carbonyl)ethyl, 3-(methoxycarbonyl)propyl, 3-(ethoxycarbonyl)propyl, 4-(methoxycarbonyl)-butyl.

An alkyl group wherein two or more CH₂ groups are replaced by —O— and/or —C(O)O— can be straight-chain or branched. It is preferably straight-chain and has 3 to 12 C atoms. Accordingly it is preferably bis-carboxy-methyl, 2,2-bis-carboxy-ethyl, 3,3-bis-carboxy-propyl, 4,4-bis-carboxy-butyl, 5,5-bis-carboxy-pentyl, 6,6-bis-carboxy-hexyl, 7,7-bis-carboxy-heptyl, 8,8-bis-carboxy-octyl, 9,9-bis-carboxy-nonyl, 10,10-bis-carboxy-decyl, bis-(methoxycarbonyl)-methyl, 2,2-bis-(methoxycarbonyl)-ethyl, 3,3-bis-(methoxycarbonyl)-propyl, 4,4-bis-(methoxycarbonyl)-butyl, 5,5-bis-(methoxycarbonyl)-pentyl, 6,6-bis-(methoxycarbonyl)-hexyl, 7,7-bis-(methoxycarbonyl)-heptyl, 8,8-bis-(methoxycarbonyl)-octyl, bis-(ethoxycarbonyl)-methyl, 2,2-bis-(ethoxycarbonyl)-ethyl, 3,3-bis-(ethoxycarbonyl)-propyl, 4,4-bis-(ethoxycarbonyl)-butyl, 5,5-bis-(ethoxycarbonyl)-hexyl.

A thioalkyl group, i.e. where one CH₂ group is replaced by —S—, is preferably straight-chain thiomethyl (—SCH₃), 1-thioethyl (—SCH₂CH₃), 1-thiopropyl (=—SCH₂CH₂CH₃), 1-(thiobutyl), 1-(thiopentyl), 1-(thiohexyl), 1-(thioheptyl), 1-(thiooctyl), 1-(thiononyl), 1-(thiodecyl), 1-(thioundecyl) or 1-(thiododecyl), wherein preferably the CH₂ group adjacent to the sp² vinyl carbon atom is replaced.

A fluoroalkyl group is preferably perfluoroalkyl C_(i)F_(2i+1), wherein i is an integer from 1 to 15, in particular CF₃, C₂F₅, C₃F₇, C₄F₉, C₅F₁₁, C₆F₁₃, C₇F₁₅ or C₈F₁₇, very preferably C₆F₁₃, or partially fluorinated alkyl, in particular 1,1-difluoroalkyl, all of which are straight-chain or branched.

Alkyl, alkoxy, alkenyl, oxaalkyl, thioalkyl, carbonyl and carbonyloxy groups can be achiral or chiral groups. Particularly preferred chiral groups are 2-butyl (=1-methylpropyl), 2-methylbutyl, 2-methylpentyl, 3-methylpentyl, 2-ethylhexyl, 2-propylpentyl, in particular 2-methylbutyl, 2-methylbutoxy, 2-methylpentoxy, 3-methylpentoxy, 2-ethyl-hexoxy, 1-methylhexoxy, 2-octyloxy, 2-oxa-3-methylbutyl, 3-oxa-4-methyl-pentyl, 4-methylhexyl, 2-hexyl, 2-octyl, 2-nonyl, 2-decyl, 2-dodecyl, 6-meth-oxyoctoxy, 6-methyloctoxy, 6-methyloctanoyloxy, 5-methylheptyloxy-carbonyl, 2-methylbutyryloxy, 3-methylvaleroyloxy, 4-methylhexanoyloxy, 2-chloropropionyloxy, 2-chloro-3-methylbutyryloxy, 2-chloro-4-methyl-valeryl-oxy, 2-chloro-3-methylvaleryloxy, 2-methyl-3-oxapentyl, 2-methyl-3-oxahexyl, 1-methoxypropyl-2-oxy, 1-ethoxypropyl-2-oxy, 1-propoxypropyl-2-oxy, 1-butoxypropyl-2-oxy, 2-fluorooctyloxy, 2-fluorodecyloxy, 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-octyloxy, 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-octyl, 2-fluoromethyloctyloxy for example. Very preferred are 2-hexyl, 2-octyl, 2-octyloxy, 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-hexyl, 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-octyl and 1,1,1-trifluoro-2-octyloxy.

Preferred achiral branched groups are isopropyl, isobutyl (=methylpropyl), isopentyl (=3-methylbutyl), tert. butyl, isopropoxy, 2-methyl-propoxy and 3-methylbutoxy.

In a preferred embodiment, the alkyl groups are independently of each other selected from primary, secondary or tertiary alkyl or alkoxy with 1 to 30 C atoms, wherein one or more H atoms are optionally replaced by F, or aryl, aryloxy, heteroaryl or heteroaryloxy that is optionally alkylated or alkoxylated and has 4 to 30 ring atoms. Very preferred groups of this type are selected from the group consisting of the following formulae

wherein “ALK” denotes optionally fluorinated, preferably linear, alkyl or alkoxy with 1 to 20, preferably 1 to 12 C-atoms, in case of tertiary groups very preferably 1 to 9 C atoms, and the dashed line denotes the link to the ring to which these groups are attached. Especially preferred among these groups are those wherein all ALK subgroups are identical.

—CY¹¹═CY¹²— is preferably —CH═CH—, —CF═CF— or —CH═C(CN)—.

As used herein, “halogen” includes F, Cl, Br or I, preferably F, Cl or Br.

A used herein, —CO—, —C(═O)— and —C(O)— will be understood to mean a carbonyl group, i.e. a group having the structure

Preferably R¹ and R² in formula I denote phenyl that is substituted with one or more substituents, very preferably with one substituent in 4-position, wherein these substituents are selected from straight-chain, branched or cyclic alkyl with 1 to 30 C atoms that is optionally fluorinated.

Preferred units of formula I are those of formula Ia:

wherein R denotes straight-chain or branched alkyl with 1 to 20 C atoms that is optionally fluorinated.

Preferred polymers according to the present invention comprise one or more repeating units of formula IIa or IIb:

-[(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIa

-[(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)d]-  IIb

wherein

-   U is a unit of formula I or Ia, -   Ar¹, Ar², Ar³ are, on each occurrence identically or differently,     and independently of each other, aryl or heteroaryl that is     different from U, preferably has 5 to 30 ring atoms, and is     optionally substituted, preferably by one or more groups R^(S), -   R^(S) is on each occurrence identically or differently F, Br, Cl,     —CN, —NC, —NCO, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(O)X⁰, —C(O)R⁰,     —C(O)OR⁰, —NH₂, —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂, —CF₃,     —SF₅, optionally substituted silyl, carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to     40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises     one or more hetero atoms, -   R⁰ and R⁰⁰ are independently of each other H or optionally     substituted C₁₋₄₀ carbyl or hydrocarbyl, and preferably denote H or     alkyl with 1 to 12 C-atoms, -   X⁰ is halogen, preferably F, Cl or Br, -   a, b, c are on each occurrence identically or differently 0, 1 or 2, -   d is on each occurrence identically or differently 0 or an integer     from 1 to 10,

wherein the polymer comprises at least one repeating unit of formula IIa or IIb wherein b is at least 1.

Further preferred polymers according to the present invention comprise, in addition to the units of formula I, Ia, IIa or IIb, one or more repeating units selected from monocyclic or polycyclic aryl or heteroaryl groups that are optionally substituted.

These additional repeating units are preferably selected of formula IIIa and IIIb

-[(Ar₁)_(a)—(Ac)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIIa

-[(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIIb

wherein Ar¹, Ar², Ar³, a, b, c and d are as defined in formula IIa, and A^(c) is an aryl or heteroaryl group that is different from U and Ar¹⁻³, preferably has 5 to 30 ring atoms, is optionally substituted by one or more groups R^(S) as defined above and below, and is preferably selected from aryl or heteroaryl groups having electron acceptor properties, wherein the polymer comprises at least one repeating unit of formula IIIa or IIIb wherein b is at least 1.

R^(S) preferably denotes, on each occurrence identically or differently, H, straight-chain, branched or cyclic alkyl with 1 to 30 C atoms, in which one or more CH₂ groups are optionally replaced by —O—, —S—, —C(O)—, —C(S)—, —C(O)—O—, —O—C(O)—, —NR⁰—, —SiR⁰R⁰⁰—, —CF₂—, —CHR⁰═CR⁰⁰—, —CY¹═CY²— or —C≡C— in such a manner that O and/or S atoms are not linked directly to one another, and in which one or more H atoms are optionally replaced by F, Cl, Br, I or CN, or denotes aryl, heteroaryl, aryloxy or heteroaryloxy with 4 to 20 ring atoms which is optionally substituted, preferably by halogen or by one or more of the aforementioned alkyl or cyclic alkyl groups.

The conjugated polymers according to the present invention are preferably selected of formula IV:

wherein

-   A, B, C independently of each other denote a distinct unit of     formula I, Ia, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, or their preferred subformulae, -   x is >0 and ≦1, -   y is ≧0 and <1, -   z is ≧0 and <1, -   x+y+z is 1, and -   n is an integer >1.

Preferred polymers of formula IV are selected of the following formulae

*-[(Ar¹—U-Ar²)_(x)—(Ar³)_(y)]_(n)-*  IVa

*-[(Ar¹—U-Ar²)_(x)—(Ar³—Ar³)_(v)]_(n)-*  IVb

*-[(Ar¹—U—Ar²)_(x)—(Ar³—Ar³—Ar³)_(v)]_(n)-*  IVc

*-[(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]_(n)-*  IVd

*—([(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]_(x)-[(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]_(y))_(n)—*  IVe

*-[(U—Ar¹—U)_(x)-(Ar²—Ar³)_(y)]_(n)-*  IVf

*-[(U—Ar¹—U)_(x)-(Ar²—Ar³—Ar²)_(y)]_(n)-*  IVg

*-[(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)]_(n)-*  IVh

*—([(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)]_(x)-[(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(d)]_(y))_(n)—*  IVi

*-[(U—Ar¹)_(x)—(U—Ar²)_(v)—(U—Ar³)_(z)]_(n)-*  IVk

wherein U, Ar¹, Ar², Ar³, a, b, c and d have in each occurrence identically or differently one of the meanings given in formula IIa, A^(c) has on each occurrence identically or differently one of the meanings given in formula IIIa, and x, y, z and n are as defined in formula IV, wherein these polymers can be alternating or random copolymers, and wherein in formula IVd and IVe in at least one of the repeating units [(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)] and in at least one of the repeating units [(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)—(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)] b is at least 1 and wherein in formula IVh and IVi in at least one of the repeating units [(U)_(b)—(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(d)] and in at least one of the repeating units [(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(d)] b is at least 1.

wherein U, Ar¹, Ar², Ar³, a, b, c and d have in each occurrence identically or differently one of the meanings given in formula II, A^(c) has on each occurrence identically or differently one of the meanings given in formula III, and x, y and n are as defined in formula IV, wherein these polymers can be alternating or random copolymers, and wherein in formula IVd and IVe in at least one of the repeating units [(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)] and in at least one of the repeating units [(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)] b is at least 1.

In the polymers according to the present invention, the total number of repeating units n is preferably from 2 to 10,000. The total number of repeating units n is preferably ≧5, very preferably ≧10, most preferably ≧50, and preferably ≦500, very preferably ≦1,000, most preferably ≦2,000, including any combination of the aforementioned lower and upper limits of n.

The polymers of the present invention include homopolymers and copolymers, like statistical or random copolymers, alternating copolymers and block copolymers, as well as combinations thereof.

Especially preferred are polymers selected from the following groups:

-   -   Group A consisting of homopolymers of the unit U or (Ar¹—U) or         (Ar¹—U—Ar²) or (Ar¹—U—Ar³) or (U—Ar²—Ar³) or (Ar¹—U—Ar²—Ar³) or         (U—Ar¹—U), i.e. where all repeating units are identical,     -   Group B consisting of random or alternating copolymers formed by         identical units (Ar¹—U—Ar²) or (U—Ar¹—U) and identical units         (Ar³),     -   Group C consisting of random or alternating copolymers formed by         identical units (Ar¹—U—Ar²) or (U—Ar¹—U) and identical units         (A¹),     -   Group D consisting of random or alternating copolymers formed by         identical units (Ar¹—U—Ar²) or (U—Ar¹—U) and identical units         (Ar¹—A^(c)—Ar²) or (A^(c)—Ar¹—A^(c)),

wherein in all these groups U, A^(c), Ar¹, Ar² and Ar³ are as defined above and below, in groups A, B and C Ar¹, Ar² and Ar³ are different from a single bond, and in group D one of Ar¹ and Ar² may also denote a single bond.

Preferred polymers of formula IV and IVa to IVk are selected of formula V

R⁵-chain-R⁶  V

wherein “chain” denotes a polymer chain of formulae IV or IVa to IVk, and R⁵ and R⁶ have independently of each other one of the meanings of R^(S) as defined above, or denote, independently of each other, H, F, Br, Cl, I, —CH₂Cl, —CHO, —CR′═CR″₂, —SiR′R″R′″, —SiR′X′X′, —SiR′R″X′, —SnR′R″R′″, —BR′R″, —B(OR′)(OR″), —B(OH)₂, —O—SO₂—R′, —C≡CH, —C≡C—SiR′₃, —ZnX′ or an endcap group, X′ and X″ denote halogen, R′, R″ and R′″ have independently of each other one of the meanings of R⁰ given in formula I, and two of R′, R″ and R′″ may also form a ring together with the hetero atom to which they are attached.

Preferred endcap groups R⁵ and R⁶ are H, C₁₋₂₀ alkyl, or optionally substituted C₆₋₁₂ aryl or C₂₋₁₀ heteroaryl, very preferably H or phenyl.

In the polymers represented by formula IV, IVa to IVk and V, x, y and z denote the mole fraction of units A, B and C, respectively, and n denotes the degree of polymerisation or total number of units A, B and C. These formulae includes block copolymers, random or statistical copolymers and alternating copolymers of A, B and C, as well as homopolymers of A for the case when x>0 and y=z=0.

The invention further relates to monomers of formula Via and Vlb

R⁷—(Ar¹)_(a)—U—(Ar²)_(c)—R⁸  VIa

R⁷—U—(Ar¹)_(a)—U—R⁸  VIb

wherein U, Ar¹, Ar², a and b have the meanings of formula IIa, or one of the preferred meanings as described above and below, and R⁷ and R⁸ are, preferably independently of each other, selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, I, O-tosylate, O-triflate, O-mesylate, O-nonaflate, —SiMe₂F, —SiMeF₂, —O—SO₂Z¹, —B(OZ²)₂, —CZ³═C(Z³)₂, —C≡CH,—C≡CSi(Z¹)₃, —ZnX⁰ and —Sn(Z⁴)₃, wherein X⁰ is halogen, preferably Cl, Br or I, Z¹⁻⁴ are selected from the group consisting of alkyl and aryl, each being optionally substituted, and two groups Z² may also together form a cyclic group.

Especially preferred are monomers of the following formulae

R⁷—Ar¹—U—Ar²—R⁸  VI1

R⁷—U—R⁸  VI2

R⁷—Ar¹—U—R⁸  VI3

R⁷—U—Ar²—R⁸  VI4

R⁷—U—Ar¹—U—R⁸  VI5

wherein U, Ar¹, Ar², R⁷ and R⁸ are as defined in formula VI.

Especially preferred are repeating units, monomers and polymers of formulae I, Ia, IIa, IIb, IIIa. IIIb, IV, IVa-IVk, V, VIa, VIb and their subformulae wherein one or more of Ar¹, Ar² and Ar³ denote aryl or heteroaryl, preferably having electron donor properties, selected from the group consisting of the following formulae

wherein R¹¹, R¹², R¹³, R¹⁴, R¹⁵, R¹⁶, R¹⁷ and R¹⁸ independently of each other denote H or have one of the meanings of R^(S) as defined above and below.

Further preferred are repeating units, monomers and polymers of formulae I, Ia, IIa, IIb, IIIa. IIIb, IV, IVa-IVk, V, VIa, VIb and their subformulae wherein A^(c) and/or Ar³ denotes aryl or heteroaryl, preferably having electron acceptor properties, selected from the group consisting of the following formulae

wherein R¹¹, R¹², R¹³, R¹⁴, R¹⁵ and R¹⁶ independently of each other denote H or have one of the meanings of R^(S) as defined above and below.

Especially preferred copolymers of the following formulae:

—(U)_(x)-  IVa

—(U)_(x)-(Ar)_(x)-  IVb

—(U—Ar)_(n)-  IVc

wherein U and Ar¹ are as defined in formula II, and n, x and y are as defined in formula IV.

Further preferred are repeating units, monomers and polymers of formulae I-VI and their subformulae selected from the following list of preferred embodiments:

-   -   y is >0 and <1 and z is 0,     -   y is >0 and <1 and z is >0 and <1,     -   X¹ and X² are C(R¹R²),     -   n is at least 5, preferably at least 10, very preferably at         least 50, and up to 2,000, preferably up to 500.     -   M_(w) is at least 5,000, preferably at least 8,000, very         preferably at least 10,000, and preferably up to 300,000, very         preferably up to 100,000,     -   R¹ and R² denote phenyl which is mono- or polysubstituted, and         preferably monosubstituted in 4-position, by substituents         selected from straight-chain or branched alkyl with 1 to 20 C         atoms that is optionally fluorinated,     -   all groups R^(S) denote H,     -   at least one group R^(S) is different from H,     -   R^(S) is selected, on each occurrence identically or         differently, from the group consisting of primary alkyl with 1         to 30 C atoms, secondary alkyl with 3 to 30 C atoms, and         tertiary alkyl with 4 to 30 C atoms, wherein in all these groups         one or more H atoms are optionally replaced by F,     -   R^(S) is selected, on each occurrence identically or         differently, from the group consisting of aryl and heteroaryl,         each of which is optionally fluorinated, alkylated or         alkoxylated and has 4 to 30 ring atoms,     -   R^(S) is selected, on each occurrence identically or         differently, from the group consisting of aryl and heteroaryl,         each of which is optionally fluorinated, or alkylated and has 4         to 30 ring atoms,     -   R^(S) is selected, on each occurrence identically or         differently, from the group consisting of primary alkoxy or         sulfanylalkyl with 1 to 30 C atoms, secondary alkoxy or         sulfanylalkyl with 3 to 30 C atoms, and tertiary alkoxy or         sulfanylalkyl with 4 to 30 C atoms, wherein in all these groups         one or more H atoms are optionally replaced by F,     -   R^(S) is selected, on each occurrence identically or         differently, from the group consisting of aryloxy and         heteroaryloxy, each of which is optionally alkylated or         alkoxylated and has 4 to 30 ring atoms,     -   R^(S) is selected, on each occurrence identically or         differently, from the group consisting of alkylcarbonyl,         alkoxycarbonyl and alkylcarbonyloxy, all of which are         straight-chain or branched, are optionally fluorinated, and have         from 1 to 30 C atoms,     -   R^(S) denotes, on each occurrence identically or differently, F,         Cl, Br, I, CN, R⁹, —C(O)—R⁹, —C(O)—O—R⁹, or —O—C(O)—R⁹, —SO₂—R⁹,         —SO₃—R⁹, wherein R⁹ is straight-chain, branched or cyclic alkyl         with 1 to 30 C atoms, in which one or more non-adjacent C atoms         are optionally replaced by —O—, —S—, —C(O)—, —C(O)—O—, —O—C(O)—,         —O—C(O)—O—, —SO₂—, —SO₃—, —CR⁰═CR⁰⁰— or —C═C— and in which one         or more H atoms are optionally replaced by F, Cl, Br, I or CN,         or R⁹ is aryl or heteroaryl having 4 to 30 ring atoms which is         unsubstituted or which is substituted by one or more halogen         atoms or by one or more groups R¹ as defined above,     -   R⁰ and R⁰⁰ are selected from H or C₁-C₁₀-alkyl,     -   R⁵ and R⁶ are independently of each other selected from H,         halogen, —CH₂Cl, —CHO, —CH═CH²—SiR′R″R′″, —SnR′R″R′″, —BR′R″,         —B(OR′)(OR″), —B(OH)₂, P-Sp, C₁-C₂₀-alkyl, C₁-C₂₀-alkoxy,         C₂-C₂₀-alkenyl, C₁-C₂₀-fluoroalkyl and optionally substituted         aryl or heteroaryl, preferably phenyl,     -   R⁷ and R⁸ are independently of each other selected from the         group consisting of Cl, Br, I, O-tosylate, O-triflate,         O-mesylate, O-nonaflate, —SiMe₂F, —SiMeF₂, —O—SO₂Z¹, —B(OZ²)₂,         —CZ³═C(Z⁴)₂, —C≡CH, C≡CSi(Z¹)₃, —ZnX⁰ and —Sn(Z⁴)₃, wherein X⁰         is halogen, Z¹⁻⁴ are selected from the group consisting of alkyl         and aryl, each being optionally substituted, and two groups Z2         may also form a cyclic group.

The compounds of the present invention can be synthesized according to or in analogy to methods that are known to the skilled person and are described in the literature. Other methods of preparation can be taken from the examples. For example, the polymers can be suitably prepared by aryl-aryl coupling reactions, such as Yamamoto coupling, Suzuki coupling, Stille coupling, Sonogashira coupling, Heck coupling or Buchwald coupling. Suzuki coupling, Stille coupling and Yamamoto coupling are especially preferred. The monomers which are polymerised to form the repeat units of the polymers can be prepared according to methods which are known to the person skilled in the art.

Preferably the polymers are prepared from monomers of formula VIa or VIb or their preferred subformulae as described above and below.

Another aspect of the invention is a process for preparing a polymer by coupling one or more identical or different monomeric units of formula I or monomers of formula VIa or VIb with each other and/or with one or more co-monomers in a polymerisation reaction, preferably in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction.

Suitable and preferred comonomers are selected from the following formulae

R⁷—(Ar¹)_(a)—A^(c)—(Ar²)_(c)—R⁸  VIII

R⁷—Ar¹—R⁸  IX

R⁷—Ar³—R⁸  X

wherein Ar¹, Ar², Ar³, a and c have one of the meanings of formula IIa or one of the preferred meanings given above and below, A^(c) has one of the meanings of formula IIIa or one of the preferred meanings given above and below, and R⁷ and R⁸ have one of meanings of formula VI or one of the preferred meanings given above and below.

Very preferred is a process for preparing a polymer by coupling one or more monomers selected from formula VIa or VIb with one or more monomers of formula VIII, and optionally with one or more monomers selected from formula IX and X, in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction, wherein preferably R⁷ and R⁸ are selected from Cl, Br, I, —B(OZ²)₂ and —Sn(Z⁴)₃.

For example, preferred embodiments of the present invention relate to

a) a process of preparing a polymer by coupling a monomer of formula VI1

R⁷—Ar¹—U—Ar²—R⁸  VI1

with a monomer of formula IX

R⁷—Ar¹—R⁸  IX

in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction, or

-   -   b) a process of preparing a polymer by coupling a monomer of         formula VI2

R⁷—U—R⁸  VI2

with a monomer of formula VIII1

R⁷—Ar¹—A^(c)-Ar²—R⁸  VIII1

in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction, or

c) a process of preparing a polymer by coupling a monomer of formula VI2

R⁷—U—R⁸  VI2

with a monomer of formula VIII-2

R⁷—A^(c)-R⁸  VIII2

in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction, or

d) a process of preparing a polymer by coupling a monomer of formula VI2

R⁷—U—R⁸  VI2

with a monomer of formula VIII2

R⁷—A-R⁸  VIII2

and a monomer of formula IX

R⁷—Ar¹—R⁸  IX

in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction,

e) a process of preparing a polymer by coupling a monomer of formula VI1

R⁷—U—Ar¹—U—R⁸  VI5

with a monomer of formula IX

R⁷—Ar¹—R⁸  IX

in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction, or

f) a process of preparing a polymer by coupling a monomer of formula VI2

R⁷—U—R⁸  VI2

with a monomer of formula IX

R⁷—Ar¹—R⁸  IX

and a monomer of formula X

R⁷—Ar³—R⁸  X

in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction,

wherein R⁷, R⁸, U, A^(c), Ar^(1,2,3) are as defined in formula IIa, IIIa and VIa, and R⁷ and R⁸ are preferably selected from Cl, Br, I, —B(OZ²)₂ and —Sn(Z⁴)₃ as defined in formula Via.

Preferred aryl-aryl coupling and polymerisation methods used in the processes described above and below are Yamamoto coupling, Kumada coupling, Negishi coupling, Suzuki coupling, Stille coupling, Sonogashira coupling, Heck coupling, C—H activation coupling, Ullmann coupling or Buchwald coupling. Especially preferred are Suzuki coupling, Negishi coupling, Stille coupling and Yamamoto coupling. Suzuki coupling is described for example in WO 00/53656 A1. Negishi coupling is described for example in J. Chem. Soc, Chem. Commun., 1977, 683-684. Yamamoto coupling is described in for example in T. Yamamoto et al., Prog. Polym. ScL, 1993, 17, 1153-1205, or WO 2004/022626 A1, and Stille coupling is described for example in Z. Bao et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc, 1995, 117, 12426-12435. For example, when using Yamamoto coupling, monomers having two reactive halide groups are preferably used. When using Suzuki coupling, compounds of formula II having two reactive boronic acid or boronic acid ester groups or two reactive halide groups are preferably used. When using Stille coupling, monomers having two reactive stannane groups or two reactive halide groups are preferably used. When using Negishi coupling, monomers having two reactive organozinc groups or two reactive halide groups are preferably used.

Preferred catalysts, especially for Suzuki, Negishi or Stille coupling, are selected from Pd(0) complexes or Pd(II) salts. Preferred Pd(0) complexes are those bearing at least one phosphine ligand such as Pd(Ph₃P)₄. Another preferred phosphine ligand is tris(ortho-tolyl)phosphine, i.e. Pd(o-Tol₃P)₄. Preferred Pd(II) salts include palladium acetate, i.e. Pd(OAc)₂. Alternatively the Pd(0) complex can be prepared by mixing a Pd(0) dibenzylideneacetone complex, for example tris(dibenzyl-ideneacetone)dipalladium(0), bis(dibenzylideneacetone)palladium(0), or Pd(II) salts e.g. palladium acetate, with a phosphine ligand, for example triphenylphosphine, tris(ortho-tolyl)phosphine or tri(tert-butyl)phosphine. Suzuki polymerisation is performed in the presence of a base, for example sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, potassium phosphate or an organic base such as tetraethylammonium carbonate or tetraethylammonium hydroxide. Yamamoto polymerisation employs a Ni(0) complex, for example bis(1,5-cyclooctadienyl) nickel(0).

Suzuki and Stille polymerisation may be used to prepare homopolymers as well as statistical, alternating and block random copolymers. Statistical or block copolymers can be prepared for example from the above monomers of formula VI or its subformulae, wherein one of the reactive groups is halogen and the other reactive group is a boronic acid, boronic acid derivative group or and alkylstannane. The synthesis of statistical, alternating and block copolymers is described in detail for example in WO 03/048225 A2 or WO 2005/014688 A2.

As alternatives to halogens as described above, leaving groups of formula —O—SO₂Z¹ can be used wherein Z¹ is as described above. Particular examples of such leaving groups are tosylate, mesylate and triflate.

Especially suitable and preferred synthesis methods of the repeating units, monomers and polymers of formulae I-VI and their subformulae are illustrated in the synthesis schemes shown hereinafter, wherein R, a, b, c, d and n are as defined above, and Ar and Ar′ have one of the meanings of Ar¹, Ar², Ar³ and A^(c) as given above.

The synthesis of the unfunctionalised monomer is exemplarily shown in Scheme 1.

The functionalisation is exemplarily shown in Scheme 2.

The synthesis of homopolymers by various methods is exemplarily shown in Scheme 3.

The synthesis of alternating co-polymers is exemplarily shown in Scheme 4.

The synthesis of statistical block co-polymers is exemplarily shown in Scheme 5.

The novel methods of preparing monomers and polymers as described above and below are another aspect of the invention.

The compounds and polymers according to the present invention can also be used in mixtures or polymer blends, for example together with monomeric compounds or together with other polymers having charge-transport, semiconducting, electrically conducting, photoconducting and/or light emitting semiconducting properties, or for example with polymers having hole blocking or electron blocking properties for use as interlayers or charge blocking layers in OLED devices. Thus, another aspect of the invention relates to a polymer blend comprising one or more polymers according to the present invention and one or more further polymers having one or more of the above-mentioned properties. These blends can be prepared by conventional methods that are described in prior art and known to the skilled person. Typically the polymers are mixed with each other or dissolved in suitable solvents and the solutions combined.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a formulation comprising one or more small molecules, polymers, mixtures or polymer blends as described above and below and one or more organic solvents.

Preferred solvents are aliphatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones, ethers and mixtures thereof. Additional solvents which can be used include 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 1,2,3,4-tetra-methyl benzene, pentylbenzene, mesitylene, cumene, cymene, cyclohexylbenzene, diethylbenzene, tetralin, decalin, 2,6-lutidine, 2-fluoro-m-xylene, 3-fluoro-o-xylene, 2-chlorobenzotrifluoride, N,N-dimethylformamide, 2-chloro-6-fluorotoluene, 2-fluoroanisole, anisole, 2,3-dimethylpyrazine, 4-fluoroanisole, 3-fluoroanisole, 3-trifluoro-methylanisole, 2-methylanisole, phenetol, 4-methylanisole, 3-methylanisole, 4-fluoro-3-methylanisole, 2-fluorobenzonitrile, 4-fluoroveratrol, 2,6-dimethylanisole, 3-fluorobenzo-nitrile, 2,5-dimethylanisole, 2,4-dimethylanisole, benzonitrile, 3,5-dimethylanisole, N,N-dimethylaniline, ethyl benzoate, 1-fluoro-3,5-dimethoxy-benzene, 1-methylnaphthalene, N-methylpyrrolidinone, 3-fluorobenzotrifluoride, benzotrifluoride, dioxane, trifluoromethoxy-benzene, 4-fluorobenzotrifluoride, 3-fluoropyridine, toluene, 2-fluoro-toluene, 2-fluorobenzotrifluoride, 3-fluorotoluene, 4-isopropylbiphenyl, phenyl ether, pyridine, 4-fluorotoluene, 2,5-difluorotoluene, 1-chloro-2,4-difluorobenzene, 2-fluoropyridine, 3-chlorofluoro-benzene, 1-chloro-2,5-difluorobenzene, 4-chlorofluorobenzene, chloro-benzene, o-dichlorobenzene, 2-chlorofluorobenzene, p-xylene, m-xylene, o-xylene or mixture of o-, m-, and p-isomers. Solvents with relatively low polarity are generally preferred. For inkjet printing solvents and solvent mixtures with high boiling temperatures are preferred. For spin coating alkylated benzenes like xylene and toluene are preferred.

Examples of especially preferred solvents include, without limitation, dichloromethane, trichloromethane, chlorobenzene, o-dichlorobenzene, tetrahydrofuran, anisole, morpholine, toluene, o-xylene, m-xylene, p-xylene, 1,4-dioxane, acetone, methylethylketone, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, ethyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, N,N-dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, dimethylsulfoxide, tetraline, decaline, indane, methyl benzoate, ethyl benzoate, mesitylene and/or mixtures thereof.

The concentration of the compounds or polymers in the solution is preferably 0.1 to 10% by weight, more preferably 0.5 to 5% by weight. Optionally, the solution also comprises one or more binders to adjust the rheological properties, as described for example in WO 2005/055248 A1.

After the appropriate mixing and ageing, solutions are evaluated as one of the following categories: complete solution, borderline solution or insoluble. The contour line is drawn to outline the solubility parameter-hydrogen bonding limits dividing solubility and insolubility. ‘Complete’ solvents falling within the solubility area can be chosen from literature values such as published in “Crowley, J. D., Teague, G. S. Jr and Lowe, J. W. Jr., Journal of Paint Technology, 1966, 38 (496), 296”. Solvent blends may also be used and can be identified as described in “Solvents, W. H. Ellis, Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology, p 9-10, 1986”. Such a procedure may lead to a blend of ‘non’ solvents that will dissolve both the polymers of the present invention, although it is desirable to have at least one true solvent in a blend.

The compounds and polymers according to the present invention can also be used in patterned OSC layers in the devices as described above and below. For applications in modern microelectronics it is generally desirable to generate small structures or patterns to reduce cost (more devices/unit area), and power consumption. Patterning of thin layers comprising a polymer according to the present invention can be carried out for example by photolithography, electron beam lithography or laser patterning.

For use as thin layers in electronic or electrooptical devices the compounds, polymers, polymer blends or formulations of the present invention may be deposited by any suitable method. Liquid coating of devices is more desirable than vacuum deposition techniques. Solution deposition methods are especially preferred. The formulations of the present invention enable the use of a number of liquid coating techniques. Preferred deposition techniques include, without limitation, dip coating, spin coating, ink jet printing, nozzle printing, letter-press printing, screen printing, gravure printing, doctor blade coating, roller printing, reverse-roller printing, offset lithography printing, dry offset lithography printing, flexographic printing, web printing, spray coating, curtain coating, brush coating, slot dye coating or pad printing.

Inkjet printing is particularly preferred when high resolution layers and devices needs to be prepared. Selected formulations of the present invention may be applied to prefabricated device substrates by ink jet printing or microdispensing. Preferably industrial piezoelectric print heads such as but not limited to those supplied by Aprion, Hitachi-Koki, InkJet Technology, On Target Technology, Picojet, Spectra, Trident, Xaar may be used to apply the organic semiconductor layer to a substrate. Additionally semi-industrial heads such as those manufactured by Brother, Epson, Konica, Seiko Instruments Toshiba TEC or single nozzle microdispensers such as those produced by Microdrop and Microfab may be used.

In order to be applied by ink jet printing or microdispensing, the compounds or polymers should be first dissolved in a suitable solvent. Solvents must fulfil the requirements stated above and must not have any detrimental effect on the chosen print head. Additionally, solvents should have boiling points >100° C., preferably >140° C. and more preferably >150° C. in order to prevent operability problems caused by the solution drying out inside the print head. Apart from the solvents mentioned above, suitable solvents include substituted and non-substituted xylene derivatives, di-C₁₋₂-alkyl formamide, substituted and non-substituted anisoles and other phenol-ether derivatives, substituted heterocycles such as substituted pyridines, pyrazines, pyrimidines, pyrrolidinones, substituted and non-substituted N,N-di-C₁₋₂-alkylanilines and other fluorinated or chlorinated aromatics.

A preferred solvent for depositing a compound or polymer according to the present invention by ink jet printing comprises a benzene derivative which has a benzene ring substituted by one or more substituents wherein the total number of carbon atoms among the one or more substituents is at least three. For example, the benzene derivative may be substituted with a propyl group or three methyl groups, in either case there being at least three carbon atoms in total. Such a solvent enables an ink jet fluid to be formed comprising the solvent with the compound or polymer, which reduces or prevents clogging of the jets and separation of the components during spraying. The solvent(s) may include those selected from the following list of examples: dodecylbenzene, 1-methyl-4-tert-butylbenzene, terpineol, limonene, isodurene, terpinolene, cymene, diethylbenzene. The solvent may be a solvent mixture, that is a combination of two or more solvents, each solvent preferably having a boiling point >100° C., more preferably >140° C. Such solvent(s) also enhance film formation in the layer deposited and reduce defects in the layer.

The ink jet fluid (that is mixture of solvent, binder and semiconducting compound) preferably has a viscosity at 20° C. of 1-100 mPas, more preferably 1-50 mPas and most preferably 1-30 mPas.

The polymer blends and formulations according to the present invention can additionally comprise one or more further components or additives selected for example from surface-active compounds, lubricating agents, wetting agents, dispersing agents, hydrophobing agents, adhesive agents, flow improvers, defoaming agents, deaerators, diluents which may be reactive or non-reactive, auxiliaries, colourants, dyes or pigments, sensitizers, stabilizers, nanoparticles or inhibitors.

The compounds and polymers to the present invention are useful as charge transport, semiconducting, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting materials in optical, electrooptical, electronic, electroluminescent or photoluminescent components or devices. In these devices, the polymers of the present invention are typically applied as thin layers or films.

Thus, the present invention also provides the use of the semiconducting compound, polymer, polymers blend, formulation or layer in an electronic device. The formulation may be used as a high mobility semiconducting material in various devices and apparatus. The formulation may be used, for example, in the form of a semiconducting layer or film. Accordingly, in another aspect, the present invention provides a semiconducting layer for use in an electronic device, the layer comprising a compound, polymer, polymer blend or formulation according to the invention. The layer or film may be less than about 30 microns. For various electronic device applications, the thickness may be less than about 1 micron thick. The layer may be deposited, for example on a part of an electronic device, by any of the aforementioned solution coating or printing techniques.

The invention additionally provides an electronic device comprising a compound, polymer, polymer blend, formulation or organic semiconducting layer according to the present invention. Especially preferred devices are OFETs, TFTs, ICs, logic circuits, capacitors, RFID tags, OLEDs, OLETs, OPEDs, OPVs, OPDs, solar cells, laser diodes, photoconductors, photodetectors, electrophotographic devices, electrophotographic recording devices, organic memory devices, sensor devices, charge injection layers, Schottky diodes, planarising layers, antistatic films, conducting substrates and conducting patterns.

Especially preferred electronic device are OFETs, OLEDs, OPV and OPD devices, in particular bulk heterojunction (BHJ) OPV devices. In an OFET, for example, the active semiconductor channel between the drain and source may comprise the layer of the invention. As another example, in an OLED device, the charge (hole or electron) injection or transport layer may comprise the layer of the invention.

For use in OPV or OPD devices the polymer according to the present invention is preferably used in a formulation that comprises or contains, more preferably consists essentially of, very preferably exclusively of, a p-type (electron donor) semiconductor and an n-type (electron acceptor) semiconductor. The p-type semiconductor is constituted by a polymer according to the present invention. The n-type semiconductor can be an inorganic material such as zinc oxide (ZnO_(x)), zinc tin oxide (ZTO), titan oxide (TiO_(x)), molybdenum oxide (MoO_(x)), nickel oxide (NiO_(x)), or cadmium selenide (CdSe), or an organic material such as graphene or a fullerene or substituted fullerene, for example an indene-C₆₀-fullerene bisaduct like ICBA, or a (6,6)—phenyl-butyric acid methyl ester derivatized methano C₆₀ fullerene, also known as “PCBM-C₆₀” or “C₆₀PCBM”, as disclosed for example in G. Yu, J. Gao, J. C. Hummelen, F. Wudl, A. J. Heeger, Science 1995, Vol. 270, p. 1789 ff and having the structure shown below, or structural analogous compounds with e.g. a C₆₁ fullerene group, a C₇₀ fullerene group, or a C₇₁ fullerene group, or an organic polymer (see for example Coakley, K. M. and McGehee, M. D. Chem. Mater. 2004, 16, 4533).

Preferably the polymer according to the present invention is blended with an n-type semiconductor such as a fullerene or substituted fullerene, like for example PCBM-C₆₀, PCBM-C₇₀, PCBM-C₆₁, PCBM-C₇₁, bis-PCBM-C₆₁, bis-PCBM-C₇₁, ICBA (1′,1″,4′,4″-tetrahydro-di[1,4]methanonaphthaleno[1,2:2′,3′;56,60:2″,3″][5,6]fullerene-C60-lh), graphene, or a metal oxide, like for example, ZnO_(x), TiO_(x), ZTO, MoO_(x), NiO_(x), to form the active layer in an OPV or OPD device. The device preferably further comprises a first transparent or semi-transparent electrode on a transparent or semi-transparent substrate on one side of the active layer, and a second metallic or semi-transparent electrode on the other side of the active layer.

Further preferably the OPV or OPD device comprises, between the active layer and the first or second electrode, one or more additional buffer layers acting as hole transporting layer and/or electron blocking layer, which comprise a material such as metal oxide, like for example, ZTO, MoO_(x), NiO_(x), a conjugated polymer electrolyte, like for example PEDOT:PSS, a conjugated polymer, like for example polytriarylamine (PTAA), an organic compound, like for example N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-bis(1-naphthyl)(1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′diamine (NPB), N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-(3-methylphenyl)-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine (TPD), or alternatively as hole blocking layer and/or electron transporting layer, which comprise a material such as metal oxide, like for example, ZnO_(x), TiO_(x), a salt, like for example LiF, NaF, CsF, a conjugated polymer electrolyte, like for example poly[3-(6-trimethylammoniumhexyl)thiophene], poly(9,9-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-fluorene]-k-poly[3-(6-trimethylammoniumhexyl)thiophene], or poly [(9,9-bis(3′-(N,N-dimethylamino)propyl)-2,7-fluorene)-alt-2,7-(9,9-dioctylfluorene)] or an organic compound, like for example tris(8-quinolinolato)-aluminium(III) (Alq₃), 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline.

In a blend or mixture of a polymer according to the present invention with a fullerene or modified fullerene, the ratio polymerfullerene is preferably from 5:1 to 1:5 by weight, more preferably from 1:1 to 1:3 by weight, most preferably 1:1 to 1:2 by weight. A polymeric binder may also be included, from 5 to 95% by weight. Examples of binder include polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA).

To produce thin layers in BHJ OPV devices the compounds, polymers, polymer blends or formulations of the present invention may be deposited by any suitable method. Liquid coating of devices is more desirable than vacuum deposition techniques. Solution deposition methods are especially preferred. The formulations of the present invention enable the use of a number of liquid coating techniques. Preferred deposition techniques include, without limitation, dip coating, spin coating, ink jet printing, nozzle printing, letter-press printing, screen printing, gravure printing, doctor blade coating, roller printing, reverse-roller printing, offset lithography printing, dry offset lithography printing, flexographic printing, web printing, spray coating, curtain coating, brush coating, slot dye coating or pad printing. For the fabrication of OPV devices and modules area printing method compatible with flexible substrates are preferred, for example slot dye coating, spray coating and the like.

Suitable solutions or formulations containing the blend or mixture of a polymer according to the present invention with a C₆₀ or C₇₀ fullerene or modified fullerene like PCBM must be prepared. In the preparation of formulations, suitable solvent must be selected to ensure full dissolution of both component, p-type and n-type and take into account the boundary conditions (for example rheological properties) introduced by the chosen printing method.

Organic solvent are generally used for this purpose. Typical solvents can be aromatic solvents, halogenated solvents or chlorinated solvents, including chlorinated aromatic solvents. Examples include, but are not limited to chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, chloroform, 1,2-dichloroethane, dichloromethane, carbon tetrachloride, toluene, cyclohexanone, ethylacetate, tetrahydrofuran, anisole, morpholine, o-xylene, m-xylene, p-xylene, 1,4-dioxane, acetone, methylethylketone, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, ethyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, dimethylsulfoxide, tetraline, decaline, indane, methyl benzoate, ethyl benzoate, mesitylene and combinations thereof.

The OPV device can for example be of any type known from the literature (see e.g. Waldauf et al., Appl. Phys. Lett, 2006, 89, 233517).

A first preferred OPV device according to the invention comprises the following layers (in the sequence from bottom to top):

-   -   optionally a substrate,     -   a high work function electrode, preferably comprising a metal         oxide, like for example ITO, serving as anode,     -   an optional conducting polymer layer or hole transport layer,         preferably comprising an organic polymer or polymer blend, for         example of PEDOT:PSS (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):         poly(styrene-sulfonate), or TBD         (N,N′-dyphenyl-N—N′-bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1′biphenyl-4,4′-diamine)         or NBD         (N,N′-dyphenyl-N—N′-bis(1-napthylphenyl)-1,1′biphenyl-4,4′-diamine),     -   a layer, also referred to as “active layer”, comprising a p-type         and an n-type organic semiconductor, which can exist for example         as a p-type/n-type bilayer or as distinct p-type and n-type         layers, or as blend or p-type and n-type semiconductor, forming         a BHJ,     -   optionally a layer having electron transport properties, for         example comprising LiF,     -   a low work function electrode, preferably comprising a metal         like for example aluminum, serving as cathode,     -   wherein at least one of the electrodes, preferably the anode, is         transparent to visible light, and     -   wherein the p-type semiconductor is a polymer according to the         present invention.

A second preferred OPV device according to the invention is an inverted OPV device and comprises the following layers (in the sequence from bottom to top):

-   -   optionally a substrate,     -   a high work function metal or metal oxide electrode, comprising         for example ITO, serving as cathode,     -   a layer having hole blocking properties, preferably comprising a         metal oxide like TiO_(x) or Zn_(x),     -   an active layer comprising a p-type and an n-type organic         semiconductor, situated between the electrodes, which can exist         for example as a p-type/n-type bilayer or as distinct p-type and         n-type layers, or as blend or p-type and n-type semiconductor,         forming a BHJ,     -   an optional conducting polymer layer or hole transport layer,         preferably comprising an organic poymer or polymer blend, for         example of PEDOT:PSS or TBD or NBD,     -   an electrode comprising a high work function metal like for         example silver, serving as anode,     -   wherein at least one of the electrodes, preferably the cathode,         is transparent to visible light, and     -   wherein the p-type semiconductor is a polymer according to the         present invention.

In the OPV devices of the present invention the p-type and n-type semiconductor materials are preferably selected from the materials, like the polymer/fullerene systems, as described above

When the active layer is deposited on the substrate, it forms a BHJ that phase separates at nanoscale level. For discussion on nanoscale phase separation see Dennler et al, Proceedings of the IEEE, 2005, 93 (8), 1429 or Hoppe et al, Adv. Func. Mater, 2004, 14(10), 1005. An optional annealing step may be then necessary to optimize blend morpohology and consequently OPV device performance.

Another method to optimize device performance is to prepare formulations for the fabrication of OPV(BHJ) devices that may include high boiling point additives to promote phase separation in the right way. 1,8-Octanedithiol, 1,8-diiodooctane, nitrobenzene, chloronaphthalene, and other additives have been used to obtain high-efficiency solar cells. Examples are disclosed in J. Peet, et al, Nat Mater., 2007, 6, 497 or Fréchet et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc, 2010, 132, 7595-7597.

The compounds, polymers, formulations and layers of the present invention are also suitable for use in an OFET as the semiconducting channel. Accordingly, the invention also provides an OFET comprising a gate electrode, an insulating (or gate insulator) layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode and an organic semiconducting channel connecting the source and drain electrodes, wherein the organic semiconducting channel comprises a compound, polymer, polymer blend, formulation or organic semiconducting layer according to the present invention. Other features of the OFET are well known to those skilled in the art.

OFETs where an OSC material is arranged as a thin film between a gate dielectric and a drain and a source electrode, are generally known, and are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,892,244, U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,804, U.S. Pat. No. 6,723,394 in the references cited in the background section. Due to the advantages, like low cost production using the solubility properties of the compounds according to the invention and thus the processibility of large surfaces, preferred applications of these FETs are such as integrated circuitry, TFT displays and security applications.

The gate, source and drain electrodes and the insulating and semiconducting layer in the OFET device may be arranged in any sequence, provided that the source and drain electrode are separated from the gate electrode by the insulating layer, the gate electrode and the semiconductor layer both contact the insulating layer, and the source electrode and the drain electrode both contact the semiconducting layer.

An OFET device according to the present invention preferably comprises:

-   -   a source electrode,     -   a drain electrode,     -   a gate electrode,     -   a semiconducting layer,     -   one or more gate insulator layers,     -   optionally a substrate.

wherein the semiconductor layer preferably comprises a compound, polymer, polymer blend or formulation as described above and below.

The OFET device can be a top gate device or a bottom gate device. Suitable structures and manufacturing methods of an OFET device are known to the skilled in the art and are described in the literature, for example in US 2007/0102696 A1.

The gate insulator layer preferably comprises a fluoropolymer, like e.g. the commercially available Cytop 809M® or Cytop 107M® (from Asahi Glass). Preferably the gate insulator layer is deposited, e.g. by spin-coating, doctor blading, wire bar coating, spray or dip coating or other known methods, from a formulation comprising an insulator material and one or more solvents with one or more fluoro atoms (fluorosolvents), preferably a perfluorosolvent. A suitable perfluorosolvent is e.g. FC75® (available from Acros, catalogue number 12380). Other suitable fluoropolymers and fluorosolvents are known in prior art, like for example the perfluoropolymers Teflon AF® 1600 or 2400 (from DuPont) or Fluoropel® (from Cytonix) or the perfluorosolvent FC 43® (Acros, No. 12377). Especially preferred are organic dielectric materials having a low permittivity (or dielectric contant) from 1.0 to 5.0, very preferably from 1.8 4.0 (“low k materials”), as disclosed for example in US 2007/0102696 A1 or U.S. Pat. No. 7,095,044.

In security applications, OFETs and other devices with semiconducting materials according to the present invention, like transistors or diodes, can be used for RFID tags or security markings to authenticate and prevent counterfeiting of documents of value like banknotes, credit cards or ID cards, national ID documents, licenses or any product with monetry value, like stamps, tickets, shares, cheques etc.

Alternatively, the materials according to the invention can be used in OLEDs, e.g. as the active display material in a flat panel display applications, or as backlight of a flat panel display like e.g. a liquid crystal display. Common OLEDs are realized using multilayer structures. An emission layer is generally sandwiched between one or more electron-transport and/or hole-transport layers. By applying an electric voltage electrons and holes as charge carriers move towards the emission layer where their recombination leads to the excitation and hence luminescence of the lumophor units contained in the emission layer. The inventive compounds, materials and films may be employed in one or more of the charge transport layers and/or in the emission layer, corresponding to their electrical and/or optical properties. Furthermore their use within the emission layer is especially advantageous, if the compounds, materials and films according to the invention show electroluminescent properties themselves or comprise electroluminescent groups or compounds. The selection, characterization as well as the processing of suitable monomeric, oligomeric and polymeric compounds or materials for the use in OLEDs is generally known by a person skilled in the art, see, e.g., Müller et al, Synth. Metals, 2000, 111-112, 31-34, Alcala, J. Appl. Phys., 2000, 88, 7124-7128 and the literature cited therein.

According to another use, the materials according to this invention, especially those showing photoluminescent properties, may be employed as materials of light sources, e.g. in display devices, as described in EP 0 889 350 A1 or by C. Weder et al., Science, 1998, 279, 835-837.

A further aspect of the invention relates to both the oxidised and reduced form of the compounds according to this invention. Either loss or gain of electrons results in formation of a highly delocalised ionic form, which is of high conductivity. This can occur on exposure to common dopants. Suitable dopants and methods of doping are known to those skilled in the art, e.g. from EP 0 528 662, U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,153 or WO 96/21659.

The doping process typically implies treatment of the semiconductor material with an oxidating or reducing agent in a redox reaction to form delocalised ionic centres in the material, with the corresponding counterions derived from the applied dopants. Suitable doping methods comprise for example exposure to a doping vapor in the atmospheric pressure or at a reduced pressure, electrochemical doping in a solution containing a dopant, bringing a dopant into contact with the semiconductor material to be thermally diffused, and ion-implantantion of the dopant into the semiconductor material.

When electrons are used as carriers, suitable dopants are for example halogens (e.g., I₂, Cl₂, Br₂, ICl, ICl₃, IBr and IF), Lewis acids (e.g., PF₅, AsF₅, SbF₅, BF₃, BCl₃, SbCl₅, BBr₃ and SO₃), protonic acids, organic acids, or amino acids (e.g., HF, HCl, HNO₃, H₂SO₄, HClO₄, FSO₃H and CISO₃H), transition metal compounds (e.g., FeCl₃, FeOCl, Fe(ClO₄)₃, Fe(4-CH₃C₆H₄SO₃)₃, TiCl₄, ZrCl₄, HfCl₄, NbF₅, NbCl₅, TaCl₅, MoF₅, MoCl₅, WF₅, WCl₆, UF₆ and LnCl₃ (wherein Ln is a lanthanoid), anions (e.g., Cl⁻, Br⁻, I⁻, I₃ ⁻, HSO₄ ⁻, SO₄ ²⁻, NO₃ ⁻, ClO₄ ⁻, BF₄ ⁻, PF₆ ⁻, AsF₆ ⁻, SbF₆ ⁻, FeCl₄ ⁻, Fe(CN)₆ ³⁻, and anions of various sulfonic acids, such as aryl-SO₃ ⁻). When holes are used as carriers, examples of dopants are cations (e.g., FT, Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺ and Cs⁺), alkali metals (e.g., Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs), alkaline-earth metals (e.g., Ca, Sr, and Ba), O₂, XeOF₄, (NO₂) (SbF₆ ⁻), (NO₂ ⁺) (SbCl₆ ⁻), (NO₂ ⁺)(BF₄ ⁻), AgClO₄, H₂IrCl₆, La(NO₃)₃.6H₂O, FSO₂OOSO₂F, Eu, acetylcholine, R₄N⁺, (R is an alkyl group), R₄P⁺ (R is an alkyl group), R₆As⁺ (R is an alkyl group), and R₃S⁺ (R is an alkyl group).

The conducting form of the compounds of the present invention can be used as an organic “metal” in applications including, but not limited to, charge injection layers and ITO planarising layers in OLED applications, films for flat panel displays and touch screens, antistatic films, printed conductive substrates, patterns or tracts in electronic applications such as printed circuit boards and condensers.

The compounds and formulations according to the present invention may also be suitable for use in organic plasmon-emitting diodes (OPEDs), as described for example in Koller et al., Nat. Photonics, 2008, 2, 684.

According to another use, the materials according to the present invention can be used alone or together with other materials in or as alignment layers in LCD or OLED devices, as described for example in US 2003/0021913. The use of charge transport compounds according to the present invention can increase the electrical conductivity of the alignment layer. When used in an LCD, this increased electrical conductivity can reduce adverse residual dc effects in the switchable LCD cell and suppress image sticking or, for example in ferroelectric LCDs, reduce the residual charge produced by the switching of the spontaneous polarisation charge of the ferroelectric LCs. When used in an OLED device comprising a light emitting material provided onto the alignment layer, this increased electrical conductivity can enhance the electroluminescence of the light emitting material. The compounds or materials according to the present invention having mesogenic or liquid crystalline properties can form oriented anisotropic films as described above, which are especially useful as alignment layers to induce or enhance alignment in a liquid crystal medium provided onto said anisotropic film. The materials according to the present invention may also be combined with photoisomerisable compounds and/or chromophores for use in or as photoalignment layers, as described in US 2003/0021913 A1.

According to another use the materials according to the present invention, especially their water-soluble derivatives (for example with polar or ionic side groups) or ionically doped forms, can be employed as chemical sensors or materials for detecting and discriminating DNA sequences. Such uses are described for example in L. Chen, D. W. McBranch, H. Wang, R. Helgeson, F. Wudl and D. G. Whitten, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 1999, 12287; D. Wang, X. Gong, P. S. Heeger, F. Rininsland, G. C. Bazan and A. J. Heeger, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2002, 99, 49; N. DiCesare, M. R. Pinot, K. S. Schanze and J. R. Lakowicz, Langmuir, 2002, 18, 7785; D. T. McQuade, A. E. Pullen, T. M. Swager, Chem. Rev., 2000, 100, 2537.

Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, as used herein plural forms of the terms herein are to be construed as including the singular form and vice versa.

Throughout the description and claims of this specification, the words “comprise” and “contain” and variations of the words, for example “comprising” and “comprises”, mean “including but not limited to”, and are not intended to (and do not) exclude other components.

It will be appreciated that variations to the foregoing embodiments of the invention can be made while still falling within the scope of the invention. Each feature disclosed in this specification, unless stated otherwise, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose. Thus, unless stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

All of the features disclosed in this specification may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive. In particular, the preferred features of the invention are applicable to all aspects of the invention and may be used in any combination. Likewise, features described in non-essential combinations may be used separately (not in combination).

Above and below, unless stated otherwise percentages are percent by weight and temperatures are given in degrees Celsius. The values of the dielectric constant ε (“permittivity”) refer to values taken at 20° C. and 1,000 Hz.

The invention will now be described in more detail by reference to the following examples, which are illustrative only and do not limit the scope of the invention.

Example 1 1,1′-Diethyl ester 2,2′-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-diylbis-benzoic add

A mixture of bromide 2-bromo-benzoic acid ethyl ester (19.3 g, 84 mmol), 2,5-bis-tributylstannanyl-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (20.2 g, 28 mmol) and anhydrous N,N-dimethylformamide (200 cm³) is degassed by nitrogen for 30 minutes. To the mixture is added bis(triphenylphosphine) palladium(II) chloride (990 mg, 1.4 mmol) and the mixture further degassed for 5 The mixture is then heated at 100° C. for 17 hours. After cooling, the mixture is poured into water (500 cm³), extracted with dichloromethane (3×300 cm³) and the combined organics dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and the solvent removed in vacuo. The crude product is purified by column chromatography (gradient from 40-60 petrol to dichloromethane) to give 1,1′-diethyl ester 2,2′-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-diylbis-benzoic acid (9.44 g, 76%). MS (m/e): 436 (M+, 100%).

2,2′-Thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-diylbis[α,α-bis[4-(dodecyl)penyl]-benzenemethanol

To magnesium (1.20 g, 50 mmol), anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (60 cm³) and a crystal of iodine in dry glassware at reflux is added dropwise 1-bromo-4-dodecylbenzene (13.4 g, 41 mmol). The reaction mixture is then heated at reflux for 2 hours. The mixture is allowed to cool and diethyl 2,2′-(thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-diyl)bis(benzo-3-carboxylate) (3.0 g, 6.9 mmol) added in one go. The mixture is then heated at reflux for 17 hours. The mixture is allowed to cool, dichloromethane (100 cm³) and water (50 cm³) added followed by aqueous hydrochloric acid (1 M, 100 cm³) and the mixture stirred at room temperature for 30 minutes. The product is extracted with dichloromethane (2×300 cm³). The combined organics are dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and the solvent removed in vacuo. The crude is purified by column chromatography (gradient from 40-60 petrol to dichloromethane) to give 2,2′-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-diylbis[α,α-bis[4-(dodecyl)phenyl]-benzenemethanol (4.63 g, 51%) as a yellow solid. 1H-NMR (300 MHz, CDCl₃) 0.82-0.91 (12H, m, CH₃), 1.15-1.38 (72H, m, CH₂), 1.53-1.69 (8H, m, CH₂), 2.57-2.65 (8H, m, CH₂), 3.39 (2H, s, OH), 6.04 (2H, s, ArH), 6.82 (2H, dd, ArH, J 7.8, 1.2), 7.05-7.13 (16H, m, ArH), 7.19-7.34 (6H, m, ArH).

6,12-Dihydro6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyl)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene

To 2,2′-(thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-diyl)bis(benzo-3-[bis-(4-dodecyl-phenyl)-methanol)] (4.63 g, 3.48 mmol) is added anhydrous toluene (450 which is previously degassed with nitrogen for 17 hours. The solution is then further degassed with nitrogen for 30 minutes. To the solution is added amberlyst 15 (2.3 g) and the mixture further degassed with nitrogen for 5 minutes. The mixture is then placed in a preheated bath at 110° C. for 75 minutes. The mixture is allowed to cool and filtered through a plug of silica (40-60 petrol). The solvent is removed in vacuo to give 6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyl)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3d]thiophene (4.21 g, 94%) as a yellow oil which solidified to a yellow solid. 1H-NMR (300 MHz, CDCl₃) 0.82-0.91 (12H, m, CH₃), 1.16-1.37 (72H, m, CH₂), 1.49-1.63 (8H, m, CH₂), 2.49-2.58 (8H, m, CH₂), 7.03-7.18 (18H, m, ArH), 7.23-7.29 (2H, m, ArH), 7.33-7.43 (4H, m, ArH).

2,9-Dibromo-6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyl)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′: 4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene

To a solution of 6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyl)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (2.21 g, 1.71 mmol) in anhydrous dichloromethane (30 cm³) at 0° C. in the dark is added very slowly dropwise over 5 hours a solution of bromine (0.17 cm³, 3.3 mmol) in anhydrous dichloromethane (8 cm³). The mixture is then allowed to warm to room temperature in the ice bath over 17 hours. The reaction mixture is quenched with saturated aqueous sodium thiosulfate (30 cm³) and the reaction mixture stirred for 1 hour. Water (200 cm³) is added and the product extracted with dichloromethane (2×100 cm³). The combined organics are dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and the solvent removed in vacuo. The crude is purified by column chromatography (gradient from 40-60 petrol to 10% dichloromethane) followed by repeated recrystallisation (80-100 petrol) to give 2,9-dibromo-6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyl)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (697 mg, 28%) as a white solid. 1H-NMR (300 MHz, CDCl₃) 0.81-0.93 (12H, m, CH₃), 1.15-1.38 (72H, m, CH₂), 1.50-1.64 (8H, m, CH₂), 2.49-2.60 (8H, m, CH₂), 7.04-7.14 (16H, m, ArH), 7.20 (2H, d, ArH, J 8.0), 7.39 (2H, dd, ArH, J 8.0, 1.7), 7.51 (2H, d, ArH, J 1.7). ¹³C-NMR (75 MHz, CDCl₃) 14.1, 22.7, 29.4, 29.5, 29.6, 31.3, 32.0, 35.6, 63.4, 119.4, 120.1, 127.9, 128.6, 129.2, 130.7, 136.8, 139.6, 141.9, 142.1, 147.0, 155.2.

Poly{2,9-[6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyl)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene]-alt-[2,5-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene]} (Polymer 1)

Nitrogen gas is bubbled through a mixture of benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b]-di-(2-bromo[4,4-bis-(4-(dodecyl)phenyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b′]dithiophen-2-yl]) (260 mg, 0.2 mmol), 2,5-bis-trimethylstannyl-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (84.5 mg, 0.2 mmol), tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) (2.8 mg, 0.004 mmol), tri-otolyl-phosphine (4.9 mg, 0.016 mmol), anhydrous toluene (4 cm³) and anhydrous N,N-dimethylformamide (0.5 cm³) for one hour. The reaction mixture is then heated in a pre-heated oil bath at 100° C. for 30 Bromobenzene (0.04 cm³) is added and the mixture heated at 100° C. for 10 minutes before addition of chlorobenzene (10 cm³). Tributyl-phenyl-stannane (0.20 cm³) is then added and the mixture heated at 100° C. for 20 minutes. The mixture allowed to cool slightly and poured into stirred methanol (100 cm³) and the polymer precipitate collected by filtration. The crude polymer is subjected to sequential Soxhlet extraction; acetone, 40-60 petrol, cyclohexanes, chloroform and chlorobenzene. The chlorobenzene extract is poured into methanol (400 cm³) and the polymer precipitate collected by filtration to give poly{2,9-[6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyl)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene]-alt-[2,5-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene]} (280 mg, 98%) as a yellow solid. GPC (chlorobenzene, 50° C.) M_(n)=226,000 g/mol, M_(w)=607,000 g/mol. GPC (trichlorobenzene, 140° C.) M_(n)=223,000 g/mol, M_(w)=492,000 g/mol.

Example 2 [2-(5-{2-[Bis-(4-dodecyloxy-phenyl)-hydroxy-methyl]-phenyl}-thieno[3,2-b]thiophen-2-yl)-phenyl]-bis-(4-dodecyloxy-phenyl)-methanol

To magnesium (1.11 g, 46 mmol), anhydrous tetrahydrofuran (60 cm³) and a crystal of iodine in dry glassware at reflux is added dropwise 1-bromo-4-dodecyloxybenzene (12.9 g, 38 mmol). The reaction mixture is then heated at reflux for 5 hours. The mixture is allowed to cool and diethyl 2,2′-(thieno[3,2-b]thiophene-2,5-diyl)bis(benzo-3-carboxylate) (2.76 g, 6.3 added in one go. The mixture is then heated at reflux for 17 hours. The mixture is allowed to cool and water (250 cm³) added. The product is extracted with dichloromethane (2×300 cm³) and the combined organics are dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and the solvent removed in vacuo. The crude is purified by column chromatography (gradient from 40-60 petrol to dichloromethane) to give [2-(5-{2-[bis-(4-dodecyloxy-phenyl)hydroxy-methyl]-phenyl}-thieno[3,2-b]thiophen-2-yl)-phenyl]-bis-(4-dodecyloxy-phenyl)-methanol (4.39 g, 50%) as a yellow solid. 1H-NMR (300 MHz, CDCl₃) 0.83-0.93 (12H, m, CH₃), 1.18-1.52 (72H, m, CH₂), 1.72-1.85 (8H, m, CH₂), 3.41 (2H, s, OH), 3.91-3.99 (8H, m, OCH₂), 6.26 (2H, s, ArH), 6.77-6.85 (10H, m, ArH), 7.01-7.10 (8H, m, ArH), 7.18-7.37 (6H, m, ArH).

8,12-Dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyloxy)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene

To [2-(5-{2-[bis-(4-dodecyloxyphenyl)-hydroxy-methyl]-phenyl}-thieno[3,2b]thiophen-2-yl)-phenyl]-bis-(4-dodecyloxy-phenyl)-methanol (4.38 g, 3.14 mmol) is added anhydrous toluene (450 cm³) which is previously degassed with nitrogen for 17 hours. The solution is then further degassed with nitrogen for 30 minutes. To the solution is added amberlyst 15 (2.3 g) and the mixture further degassed with nitrogen for 5 minutes. The mixture is then placed in a preheated bath at 110° C. for 2 hours. The mixture is allowed to cool and filtered through a plug of silica (40-60 petrol:DCM; 1:1). The solvent is removed in vacuo to give 6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyloxy)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (4.10 g, 96%) as a yellow oil which solidified to a yellow solid. ¹H-NMR (300 MHz, CDCl₃) 0.83-0.92 (12H, m, CH₃), 1.18-1.46 (72H, m, CH₂), 1.66-1.78 (8H, m, CH₂), 3.88 (8H, t, OCH₂, J 6.5), 6.74-6.81 (8H, m, ArH), 7.12-7.19 (10H, m, ArH), 7.22-7.29 (2H, m, ArH), 7.33-7.40 (4H, m, ArH).

2,9-Dibromo-6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyloxy)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3d]thiophene

To a solution of 6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyloxy)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (1.0 g, 0.74 mmol) and iron (III) chloride in chloroform (27 cm³) is added bromine (0.075 cm³, mmol). The mixture is then stirred at 23° C. for 17 hours. Further bromine (0.004 cm³) is added and the mixture stirred at 23° C. for 17 The reaction mixture is quenched with saturated aqueous sodium thiosulfate (100 cm³) and the product extracted with dichloromethane (2×200 cm³). The combined organics are dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and the solvent removed in vacuo. The crude is purified by column chromatography (gradient from 40-60 petrol to 20% dichloromethane) followed by column chromatography (40-60 petrol:diethyl ether; 80:1) to give 2,9-dibromo-6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4(dodecyloxy)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene (260 mg, 23%) as a yellow solid.

Poly{2,9-[6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyloxy)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene]-alt-[2,5-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene]} (Polymer 2)

Nitrogen gas is bubbled through a mixture of benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]-di-(2-bromo[4,4-bis-(4-(dodecyloxy)phenyl)-4H-cyclopenta[2,1-b;3,4-b′]dithiophen-2-yl]) (171.6 mg, 0.113 mmol), 2,5-bis-trimethylstannyl-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (52.7 mg, 0.113 mmol), tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) (1.6 mg, 0.002 mmol), tri-o-tolyl-phosphine (2.8 mg, 0.009 mmol), anhydrous toluene (5 cm³) and anhydrous N,N-dimethylformamide (1.0 cm³) for one hour. The reaction mixture is then heated in a pre-heated oil bath at 100° C. for 30 minutes. Bromobenzene (0.02 cm³) is added and the mixture heated at 100° C. for 10 minutes before addition of chlorobenzene (10 cm³). Tributyl-phenyl-stannane (0.11 cm³) is then added and the mixture heated at 100° C. for 20 The mixture allowed to cool slightly and poured into stirred methanol (100 cm³) and the polymer precipitate collected by filtration. The crude polymer is subjected to sequential Soxhlet extraction; acetone, 40-60 petrol, cyclohexanes and chloroform. The chloroform extract is poured into methanol (400 cm³) and the polymer precipitate collected by filtration to give poly{2,9-[6,12-dihydro-6,6,12,12-tetrakis[4-(dodecyloxy)phenyl]-indeno[1,2-b]indeno[2′,1′:4,5]thieno[2,3-d]thiophene]-alt-[2,5-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene]} (150 mg, 89%) as a yellow solid. GPC (chlorobenzene, 50° C.) M_(n)=113,000 g/mol, M_(w)=350,000 g/mol.

Example 3 Transistor Fabrication and Measurement

Top-gate thin-film organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) were fabricated on glass substrates with photolithographically defined Au source-drain electrodes. A 7 mg/cm³ solution of the organic semiconductor in dichlorobenzene was spin-coated on top followed by a spin-coated fluoropolymer dielectric material (Lisicon® D139 from Merck, Germany). Finally a photolithographically defined Au gate electrode was deposited. The electrical characterization of the transistor devices was carried out in ambient air atmosphere using computer controlled Agilent 4155C Semiconductor Parameter Analyser. Charge carrier mobility in the saturation regime (μ_(sat)) was calculated for the compound. Field-effect mobility was calculated in the saturation regime (V_(d)>(V_(g)−V₀)) using equation (1):

$\begin{matrix} {\left( \frac{I_{d}^{sat}}{V_{g}} \right)_{V_{d}} = {\frac{{WC}_{i}}{L}{\mu^{sat}\left( {V_{g} - V_{0}} \right)}}} & (1) \end{matrix}$

where W is the channel width, L the channel length, C_(i) the capacitance of insulating layer, V_(g) the gate voltage, V₀ the turn-on voltage, and μ_(sat) is the charge carrier mobility in the saturation regime. Turn-on voltage (V₀) was determined as the onset of source-drain current.

The mobility (μ_(sat)) for polymer 1 and comparative polymer (polymer 2) in top-gate OFETs is 0.18 cm²/Vs and 0.05 cm²/Vs respectively.

FIG. 1 shows the transfer characteristics and the charge carrier mobility of a top-gate OFET prepared as described above, wherein polymer 1 is used as the organic semiconductor. 

1. A polymer comprising one or more units of formula I

wherein R¹ and R² independently of each other denote aryl or heteroaryl that is substituted with one or more groups selected from halogen, CN and straight-chain, branched or cyclic alkyl with 1 to 30 C atoms, in which one or more CH₂ groups, which are not in α-position to the aryl or heteroaryl group, are optionally replaced by —O—, —S—, —C(O)—, —C(S)—, —C(O)—O—, —O—C(O)—, —NR⁰—, —SiR⁰R⁰⁰—, —CF₂—, —CHR⁰═CR⁰⁰—, —CY¹═CY²- or —C≡C— in such a manner that O and/or S atoms are not linked directly to one another, and in which one or more H atoms are optionally replaced by F, Cl, Br, I or CN, Y¹ and Y² are independently of each other H, F, Cl or CN, R⁰ and R⁰⁰ are independently of each other H or optionally substituted C₁₋₄₀ carbyl or hydrocarbyl, and preferably denote H or alkyl with 1 to 12 C-atoms.
 2. The polymer according to claim 1, characterized in that R¹ and R² formula I denote phenyl that is substituted with one or more alkyl straight-chain, branched or cyclic alkyl groups with 1 to 30 C atoms that are optionally fluorinated.
 3. The polymer according to claim 1, characterized in that the units of formula I are selected from formula Ia:

wherein R denotes straight-chain or branched alkyl with 1 to 20 C atoms that is optionally fluorinated.
 4. The polymer according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises one or more units of formula IIa or IIb -[(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIa -[(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIb wherein U is a unit of formula I as defined in claim 1, Ar¹, Ar², Ar³ are, on each occurrence identically or differently, and independently of each other, aryl or heteroaryl that is different from U, preferably has 5 to 30 ring atoms and is optionally substituted, preferably by one or more groups R^(S), R^(S) is on each occurrence identically or differently F, Br, Cl, —CN, —NC, —NCO, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(O)X⁰, —C(O)R⁰, —NH₂, —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂, —CF₃, —SF₅, optionally substituted silyl, carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to 40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms, R⁰ and R⁰⁰ are independently of each other H or optionally substituted C₁₋₄₀ or hydrocarbyl, X⁰ is halogen, preferably F, Cl or Br, a, b, c are on each occurrence identically or differently 0, 1 or 2, d is on each occurrence identically or differently 0 or an integer from 1 to 10, wherein the polymer comprises at least one repeating unit of formula IIa or IIb wherein b is at least
 1. 5. The polymer according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises one or more repeating units selected of formula IIIa or IIIb -[(Ar₁)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIIa -[(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIIb wherein Ar¹, Ar², Ar³, are, on each occurrence identically or differently, and independently of each other, aryl or heteroaryl that is different from U, preferably has 5 to 30 ring atoms and is optionally substituted, preferably by one or more groups R^(S), a, b, c are on each occurrence identically or differently 0, 1 or 2, d is on each occurrence identically or differently 0 or an integer from 1 to 10, and A^(c) is an aryl or heteroaryl group that is different from U and Ar¹⁻³, has 5 to 30 ring atoms, is optionally substituted by one or more groups R^(S), and is selected from aryl or heteroaryl groups having electron acceptor properties, R^(S) is on each occurrence identically or differently E Br, Cl, —CN, —NC, —NCO, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(O)X⁰, —C(O)R⁰, —NH₂, —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂, —CF₃, —SF₅, optionally substituted silyl, carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to 40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms, wherein the polymer comprises at least one repeating unit of formula IIIa or IIIb wherein b is at least
 1. 6. The polymer according to claim 1, characterized in that it is selected of formula IV:

wherein A, B, C independently of each other denote a distinct unit of formula I as defined in claim 1, x is >0 and ≦1, y is ≧0 and <1, z is ≧0 and <1, x+y+z is 1, and n is an integer >1.
 7. The polymer according to claim 1, characterized in that it is selected from the following formulae *-[(Ar₁-U—Ar₂)_(x)—(Ar³)_(y)]_(n)-*  IVa *-[(Ar¹—U—Ar₂)_(x)—(Ar³—Ar³)_(v)]_(n)-*  IVb *-[(Ar¹—U—Ar²)x—(Ar³—Ar³—Ar³)_(v)]_(n)-*  IVc *-[(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]_(n)-*  IVd *—([(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]_(x)-[(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]_(y))_(n)—*  IVe *-[(U—Ar¹—U)_(x)-(Ar²—Ar³)_(y)]_(n)-*  IVf *-[(U—Ar¹—U)_(x)-(Ar²—Ar³—Ar²)_(y)]_(n)-*  IVg *-[(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)]_(n)-*  IVh *—([(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)]_(x)-[(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(d)]_(y))_(n)—*  IVi *-[(U—Ar¹)_(x)—(U—Ar²)_(v)—(U—Ar³)_(z)]_(n)-*  IVk wherein U is a unit of formula I, Ar¹, Ar², Ar³ are, on each occurrence identically or differently, and independently of each other, aryl or heteroaryl that is different from U, preferably has 5 to 30 ring atoms and is optionally substituted, preferably by one or more groups R^(S), a, b, c are on each occurrence identically or differently 0, 1 or 2, d is on each occurrence identically or differently 0 or an integer from 1 to 10, A^(c) is an aryl or heteroaryl group that is different from U, is optionally substituted by one or more groups R^(S), and is selected from aryl or heteroaryl groups having electron acceptor properties. x is >0 and ≦1, y is ≧0 and <1, z is ≧0 and <1, and n is an integer >1, wherein these polymers can be alternating or random copolymers, and wherein in formula IVd and IVe in at least one of the repeating units [(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)] and in at least one of the repeating units [(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)] b is at least 1 and wherein in formula IVh and IVi in at least one of the repeating units [(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(d)] and in at least one of the repeating units [(U)_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(U)_(b)-(Ar²)_(d)] b is at least
 1. 8. The polymer according to claim 6, characterized in that it is selected of formula V R⁵-chain-R⁶  V wherein “chain” is a polymer chain selected of formulae IV, R⁵ and R⁶ are, independently of each other C(O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(O)X⁰, —C(O)R⁰, —NH₂, —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂, —CF₃, —SF₅, optionally substituted silyl, carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to 40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms, or denote, independently of each other, H, F, Br, Cl, I, —CH₂Cl, —CHO, —CR′═CR″₂, —SiR′R″R′″, —SiR′X′X″, —SiR′R″X′, —SnR′R″R′″, —BR′R″, —B(OR′)(OR″), —B(OH)₂, —O—SO₂—R′, —C≡CH, —C≡C—SiR′₃, —ZnX′, or an endcap group, wherein X′ and X″ denote halogen, R′, R″ and R′″ are, independently of each other, H or optionally substituted C₁₋₄₀ carbyl or hydrocarbyl, and preferably denote H or alkyl with 1 to 12 C-atoms, R⁰ and R⁰⁰ are independently of each other H or optionally substituted C₁₋₄₀ carbyl or hydrocarbyl, and two of R′, R″ and R′″ may also form a ring together with the hetero atom to which they are attached.
 9. The polymer according to claim 1, wherein one or more of Ar¹, Ar² and Ar³ denote aryl or heteroaryl selected from the group consisting of the following formulae

wherein R¹¹, R¹², R¹³, R¹⁴, R¹⁵, R¹⁶, R¹⁷ and R¹⁸ independently of each other denote H or F, Br, Cl, —CN, —NC, —NCO, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(O)X⁰, —C(O)R⁰, —NH₂, —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂, —CF₃, —SF₅, optionally substituted silyl, carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to 40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms.
 10. The polymer according to claim 4, wherein A^(c) and/or Ar³ denotes aryl or heteroaryl selected from the group consisting of the following formulae

wherein R¹¹, R¹², R¹³, R¹⁴, R¹⁵ and R¹⁶ independently of each other denote H or F, Br, Cl, —CN, —NC, —NOC, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(O)X⁰, —C(O)R⁰, —NH₂, —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂, —CF₃, —SF₃, optionally substituted silyl, carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to 40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms.
 11. A mixture or polymer blend comprising one or more polymers according to claim 1 and one or more compounds or polymers having semiconducting, charge transport, hole/electron transport, hole/electron blocking, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting properties.
 12. The mixture or polymer blend according to claim 11, characterized in that it further comprises one or more n-type organic semiconductor compounds.
 13. The mixture or polymer blend according to claim 12, characterized in that the n-type organic semiconductor compound is a fullerene or substituted fullerene.
 14. A formulation comprising one or more polymers, mixtures or polymer blends according to claim 1, and one or more solvents, preferably selected from organic solvents.
 15. A charge transport, semiconducting, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting material in an optical, electrooptical, electronic, electroluminescent or photoluminescent device, or in a component of such a device, or in an assembly comprising such a device or component, which comprises a polymer according to claim
 1. 16. A charge transport, semiconducting, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting material comprising a polymer, according to claim
 1. 17. An optical, electrooptical, electronic, electroluminescent or photoluminescent device, or a component thereof, or an assembly comprising it, which comprises a charge transport, semiconducting, electrically conducting, photoconducting or light emitting material, or comprises a polymer, according to claim
 1. 18. A device, a component thereof, or an assembly comprising it according to claim 17, wherein the device is selected from organic field effect transistors (OFET), thin film transistors (TFT), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), organic light emitting transistors (OLET), organic photovoltaic devices (OPV), organic photodetectors (OPD), organic solar cells, laser diodes, Schottky diodes, and photoconductors, the component is selected from charge injection layers, charge transport layers, interlayers, planarising layers, antistatic films, polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM), conducting substrates, conducting patterns, and the assembly is selected from integrated circuits (IC), radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or security markings or security devices containing them, flat panel displays or backlights thereof, electrophotographic devices, electrophotographic recording devices, organic memory devices, sensor devices, biosensors and biochips.
 19. The device according to claim 18, which is an OFET, bulk heterojunction (BHJ) OPV device or inverted BHJ OPV device.
 20. A monomer of formula VIa or VIb R⁷—(Ar¹)_(a)—U—(Ar²)_(c)—R⁸  VIa R⁷—U—(Ar¹)_(a)—U—R⁸  VIb wherein a and c are on each occurrence identically or differently 0, 1 or 2, U is a unit of formula I as defined in claim 1, Ar¹, Ar², Ar³ are, on each occurrence identically or differently, and independently of each other, aryl or heteroaryl that is different from U, preferably has 5 to 30 ring atoms and is optionally substituted, preferably by one or more groups R^(S), R^(S) is on each occurrence identically or differently F, Br, Cl, —CN, —NC, —NCO, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(O)X⁰, —C(O)R⁰, —NH², —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂, —CF₃, —SF₅, optionally substituted silyl, carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to 40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms, R⁷ and R⁸ are selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, I, O-tosylate, O-triflate, O-mesylate, O-nonaflate, —SiMe₂F, —SiMeF₂, —O—SO₂Z¹, —B(OZ²)₂, —CZ³═C(Z³)₂, —C≡CH, —C≡CSi(Z¹)₃, —ZnX⁰ and —Sn(Z⁴)₃, wherein X⁰ is halogen, preferably Cl, Br or I, and Z¹⁻⁴ are selected from the group consisting of alkyl and aryl, each being optionally substituted, and two groups Z² may also together form a cyclic group.
 21. The monomer according to claim 20, which is selected from the following formulae R⁷—Ar¹—U—Ar²—R⁸  VI1 R⁷—U—R⁸  VI2 R⁷—Ar¹—U—R⁸  VI3 R⁷—U—Ar²—R⁸  VI4 R⁷—U—Ar¹—U—R⁸  VI5 wherein U, Ar¹, Ar³, R⁷ and R⁸ are as defined in claim
 20. 22. A process of preparing a polymer according to claim 1, by coupling one or more monomers R⁷—(Ar¹)_(a)—U—(Ar²)_(c)—R⁸  VIa R⁷—U—(Ar¹)_(a)—U—R⁸  VIb wherein a and c are on each occurrence identically or differently 0, 1 or 2, U is a unit of formula I or Ia as defined in claim 1, Ar¹, Ar², Ar³ are, on each occurrence identically or differently, and independently of each other, aryl or heteroaryl that is different from U, preferably has 5 to 30 ring atoms and is optionally substituted, preferably by one or more groups R^(S), R^(S) is on each occurrence identically or differently F, Br, Cl, —CN, —NC, —NCO, —NCS, —OCN, —SCN, —C(O)NR⁰R⁰⁰, —C(O)X⁰, —C(O)R⁰, —NH₂, —NR⁰R⁰⁰, —SH, —SR⁰, —SO₃H, —SO₂R⁰, —OH, —NO₂—, —CF₃, —SF₅, optionally substituted silyl, carbyl or hydrocarbyl with 1 to 40 C atoms that is optionally substituted and optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms, and R⁷ and R⁸ are selected from Cl, Br, I, —B(OZ₂)₂ and —Sn(Z⁴)₃, with each other and/or with one or more monomers selected from the following formulae R⁷—(Ar¹)_(a)—A^(c)—(Ar²)_(c)—R⁸  VIII R⁷—Ar¹—R⁸  IX R⁷—Ar³—R⁸  X wherein Ar³ is on each occurrence identically or differently, and independently of each other, aryl or heteroaryl that is different from U, preferably has 5 to 30 ring atoms and is optionally substituted, preferably by one or more groups R^(S), A^(c) is an aryl or heteroaryl group that is different from U, and R⁷ and R⁸ are selected from Cl, Br, I, —B(OZ²)₂ and —Sn(Z⁴)₃, in an aryl-aryl coupling reaction.
 23. The polymer according to claim 4, characterized in that it additionally comprises one or more repeating units selected of formula IIIa or IIIb -[(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIIa -[(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar¹)_(a)—(A^(c))_(b)-(Ar²)_(c)—(Ar³)_(d)]-  IIIb wherein Ar¹, Ar², Ar³, a, b, c and d are as defined in claim 4, and A^(c) is an aryl or heteroaryl group that is different from U and Ar¹⁻³, has 5 to 30 ring atoms, is optionally substituted by one or more groups R^(S) as defined in claim 4, and is selected from aryl or heteroaryl groups having electron acceptor properties, wherein the polymer comprises at least one repeating unit of formula IIIa or IIIb wherein b is at least
 1. 24. The polymer according to claim 23, characterized in that it is selected of formula IV:

wherein A, B, C independently of each other denote a distinct unit of formula I, Ia, Ia1, IIa, IIb, IIIa, or IIIb, x is >0 and <1, y is ≧0 and <1, z is ≧0 and <1, x+y+z is 1, and n is an integer >1. 